CARTON AND CARTON BLANK

Abstract: A sleeve and a blank (10) for forming a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs (46) or the like, which sleeve comprises a back panel (12), a partition panel (14) foldably connected to an edge of the back panel, a front panel (18) foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel, wherein said partition panel and said front panel are folded upon the back panel one after the other to form an envelope (40) with two disc pockets (42). The invention further comprises a method of constructing the same.

Description: CARTONAND CARTONBLANK Background of the Invention The invention relates to a carton or sleeve for accommodating articles, for example information discs or the like, formed from one or more blanks of paperboard or other suitable foldable sheet material and more particularly to a sleeve capable of being formed into a sealed compartment comprising two or more disc pockets. Examples of sleeves formed from one or more blanks of cardboard may be found in US 3, 719, 319 which illustrates an envelope like container made of a single blank comprising one or more open topped pockets formed from three panels foldably connected in series. The bottom of the sleeve is formed by a flap secured to one of the outer panels by glue. Other examples illustrated in US 3, 717, 297 and US 3, 688, 898. However, the gluing and folding process of known sleeves is relatively complex and slow. Summary of the Invention The present invention and its preferred embodiments seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art. According to the first aspect of the invention there is provided a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like, which sleeve may comprise a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to an edge of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel, wherein said partition panel and said front panel are folded upon the back panel one after the other to form an envelope with two disc pockets. Preferably, the front panel further comprises securing means to secure the front panel to the back panel. According to an optional feature of the first aspect of the invention, at least one of the front or back panels may comprise a recess to allow a user access to a disc contained in the sleeves. According to another optional feature of this aspect of the invention there may be a protrusion extending from said partition panel to protect the or each said disc contained in said disc pocket. According to yet another optional feature of this aspect of the invention a second partition panel may be foldably connected to an opposite edge of the back panel to form a third disc pocket. A second aspect of the invention provides a blank for forming a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like, which blank may comprise a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to an edge of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel, wherein there further comprises a pair of securing flaps hingedly connected to opposite side edges of the front panel. A third aspect of the invention provides a method of forming a sleeve with two or more disc pockets from a blank comprising a partition panel, a back panel and a front panel, which method comprises the steps of (i) folding the partition panel into face contacting arrangement with the base panel; (ii) folding the front panel into face contacting arrangement with the partition panel; and (iii) securing the front and back panels together. Brief Description of the Drawings Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; FIGURE 2 illustrates the blank illustrated in FIGURE 1 shown during folding; and FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of the carton formed from the blank illustrated in FIGURE 1. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is shown a blank 10 for forming a carton (or sleeve) for holding a plurality of articles, for example information discs and the like made from one or more blanks of paperboard or similar foldable sheet material. The blank 10 comprises a back panel 12, a partition panel 14 foldably connected to a side edge of base panel 12 along fold line 16. There further comprises a front panel 18 foldably connected to back panel 12, preferably its bottom edge, along fold line 20. Securing means is provided to secure the panels together: in this embodiment the securing means comprises a pair of side flaps 22, 26 foldably connected to the opposed side edges of front panel 18 along fold lines 24 and 28 respectively. The back and/or front panels 12, 18 may optionally comprise one or more recesses 30 to allow a user to access to a disc contained in the sleeve when in use. There may further comprise a protruding portion 32 extending upwardly from an upper part of divider panel 14. In use, the protrusion 32 extends beyond the or each disc contained in the sleeve to provide support and to protect the discs should the sleeve be accidentally dropped. The front and/or back panels 12, 18 may also be provided with a protruding portion. It is envisaged that a second divider panel (not shown) could be provided along the opposing side edge of back panel 12 opposite fold line 16 to provide a further disc pocket if required. Furthermore, the size of sleeve can be altered according to manufacturing or user requirements. For example, the height or width of the panels can be increased or decreased according to the size of article to be held by the sleeve. The construction of the carton is illustrated with reference to Figures 2 and 3: in this embodiment, glue 34 is first applied to securing flaps 22 and 26. Divider panel 14 is folded about fold line 16 in direction "A" and into face contacting relationship with back panel 12. Thereafter, front panel 18 is folded about fold line 20 in direction "B" and into face contacting relationship with the opposite face of divider panel 14. Construction is completed by folding securing flaps 22 and 26 about fold lines 24 and 28 respectively into face contacting relationship with the side portions of the outer face of back panel 12 to be secured together by the glue or other means known in the art. One advantage of the present invention, is that the carton can be formed by a series of sequential folding and gluing operations which can take place in a straight line machine so that the carton is not required to be rotated or inverted to complete its construction. This reduces the time taken to construct a carton. The folding process is not limited to that described below and can be altered according to the particular manufacturing requirements. Thus, the carton in its completed form is to be supplied to the user so that it can be adapted to provide a sleeve for discs or other like objects. Figure 3 shows a sleeve for holding information discs comprising a back panel 12, a partition panel 14 foldably connected to an edge of back panel 12, a front panel 18 foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel 12. The partition panel 14 and the front panel 18 are folded upon the back panel 12 one after the other to form an envelope 40 with two disc pockets 42. It can be seen from Figure 3, that a disc 46 can be removed from the disc pockets 42 by using the recess 30 to retrieve the disc from the pockets. Furthermore, the protrusion 32 provides a protective outer edge 48 above the disc, so that it is the edge rather than the disc that makes contact with a surface if dropped. In this embodiment, the diameter of the disc is greater than the height of the front and back panels to aid removal of the disc. Beneficially, the embodiment of the invention hereinbefore described provides a structure that it sufficiently strong to retain articles and to provide an integral base. The use of paperboard material provides an "environmentally friendly" alternative to sleeves formed from plastic material and the sleeves made from paperboard can include printed matter for marketing purposes. It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as "top", "base", "end", and "side" do not limit the respective panels to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another. Any reference to hinged connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only: indeed it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of one of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line, without departing from the scope of invention. The present invention and its preferred embodiment relates to a carton or a sleeve which is shaped to provide satisfactory rigidity to hold items such as compact discs with a degree of flexibility. The shape of the blank minimises the amount of paperboard required for the carton. The carton can be constructed from a flat collapsed condition to a position of use by hand or automatic machinery. It is anticipated the invention can be modified, for example two or more divider panels can be attached to the blank to define a plurality of disc pockets 42, without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the front and back panels could be a polygonal form, e.g. hexagon, and each side edge of the back panel could be connected to a partition panel foldable to provide a sleeve with multiple disc pockets.

Claims: CLA S 1. A sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like, which sleeve comprises a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to an edge of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel, wherein said partition panel and said front panel are folded upon the back panel one after the other to form an envelope with two disc pockets. 2. The sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the front panel further comprises securing means to secure said front panel to the back panel. 3. The sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the front or back panels comprises a recess to allow a user access to a disc contained in the sleeves. 4. The sleeve as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a protrusion extending from said partition panel to protect the or each said disc contained in said disc pocket. 5. The sleeve as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a second partition panel foldably connected to an opposite edge of the back panel to form a third disc pocket. 6. A blank for forming a sleeve as claimed in any of claims 1-5. 7. A blank for forming a sleeve for holding information discs, for example compact discs or the like, which blank comprises a back panel, a partition panel foldably connected to an edge of the back panel, a front panel foldably connected to a second edge of the back panel, wherein there further comprises a pair of securing flaps hingedly connected to opposite side edges of the front panel. 8. A method of forming a sleeve with two or more disc pockets from a blank as claimed in claim 7, which method comprises the steps of (i) folding the partition panel into face contacting arrangement with the base panel; (ii) folding the front panel into face contacting arrangement with the partition panel; and (iii) securing the front and back panels together.

Inventors: GARNIER JEAN-MICHEL, GARNIER, JEAN-MICHEL
Applicants: GARNIER JEAN MICHEL, MEAD CORP, GARNIER, JEAN-MICHEL, THE MEAD CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B65D85
IPC codes: B65D85, G11B33