Abstract:
The present invention relates to a compact disc (CD) and booklet display stand that enables a plurality of such CDs and booklets to be stored for convenient access, such as in a desktop environment. The display stand mounts a plurality of CD/booklet holders to a stand that places the holders for convenient access by a user. Some embodiments of the display stand may be folded for secure transportation or storage.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 from the following U.S. Provisional patent applications: 
     Provisional patent application Serial No. 60/102,502, filed Sep. 30, 1998 
     Provisional patent application Serial No. 60/104,334, filed Oct. 15, 1998. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to compact disc holders and, more particularly, to a compact disc and booklet display stand. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Compact discs (CDs) are popular mediums for the storage of music, computer software, computer games, etc. As used herein, the term “compact disc” is intended to encompass any compact digital storage disc, such as compact discs for the storage of digitized music, CD-ROMs for the storage of digitized data and computer software, DVDs for the storage of digitized audio and video data, and other similar disc formats, whether now known or developed in the future. Such CDs are usually packaged in a rigid plastic “jewel case” with a square, multi-page booklet containing information about the data stored on the CD. Because the jewel cases take up much more space than the CDs and booklets which they store, they are often considered a nuisance by users who need to have ready access to more than two or three CDs. The jewel cases are especially cumbersome when it is desired to store several CDs on a desktop to be used with a personal computer. 
     Prior art systems are known for collecting the CDs individually into a booklet having vinyl sleeves bound, for example, in a three-ring binder. It has been found that this solution is also unwieldy for use in a desktop setting. Consequently, there is a need for an improved CD holder which allows the CDs and their accompanying booklets to be stored for ready usage in a desk-top environment. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need. 
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a compact disc (CD) and booklet display stand that enables a plurality of such CDs and booklets to be stored for convenient access, such as in a desktop environment. The display stand mounts a plurality of CD/booklet holders to a stand that places the holders for convenient access by a user. Some embodiments of the display stand may be folded for secure transportation or storage. 
     In one form of the present invention, a compact disc and booklet display stand is disclosed, comprising a plurality of holders, each holder adapted to hold a compact disc and a documentation booklet; a display stand having a bottom surface and at least on one side surface; and a binding for coupling said plurality of holders to said display stand at least one side surface; wherein said display stand orients said plurality of holders in a substantially vertical orientation when said display stand bottom surface is positioned on a horizontal surface. 
     In another form of the present invention, a compact disc and booklet holder is disclosed, comprising a backside piece; a compact disc pocket piece overlying said backside piece; and a booklet pocket piece overlying said compact disc pocket piece; wherein said backside piece, said compact disc pocket piece and said booklet pocket piece are coupled on three sides, thereby forming a compact disc pocket between said backside piece and said compact disc pocket piece, and forming a booklet pocket between said compact disc pocket piece and said booklet pocket piece. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment single CD and booklet holder of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a plurality of the holders of FIG. 1 bound into a first embodiment desktop display stand. 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a plurality of the holders of FIG. 1 bound into a second embodiment desktop display stand. 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a binder portion of the desktop display stand of FIG. 3, wherein the binder portion is removed from the display stand and folded for portability. 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the base portion of the second embodiment desktop display stand of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the base portion of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a plurality of the holders of FIG. 1 bound into a third embodiment desktop display stand. 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the desktop display stand of FIG. 7 folded for portability. 
     FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the desktop display stand of FIG. 7 laid flat. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, and alterations and modifications in the illustrated device, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein are herein contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a single CD and booklet holder constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and indicated generally at  10 . The holder  10  comprises a backside piece  12  preferably formed from a piece of 14 gauge suede vinyl, preferably having the dimensions of 5⅝″ by 5½″. Overlying the backside  12  is a CD pocket piece  14  preferably formed from a piece of 8 gauge clear vinyl and preferably formed in the dimensions of 4½″ by 5⅝″. Finally, a booklet pocket piece  16  overlays the CD pocket piece  14  and is preferably formed with dimension 3¼″ by 5⅜″. The booklet pocket piece  16  is also preferably formed from 8 gauge clear vinyl. The dimensions given above are preferred for storage of standard CDs and their associated booklets, but are in no way intended to be limitations of the present invention. The present invention comprehends the use of any dimensions for the pieces  12 - 16  in order to provide a desired amount of storage therein. 
     The pieces  12 - 16  are then heat sealed to one another along the lines indicated in FIG. 1 using conventional heat sealing dies in order to form two storage pockets on top of the backside piece  12 . The first pocket  18  may conveniently hold a CD which has been removed from its jewel case, while the pocket  20  may conveniently hold the associated information booklet removed from the jewel case. The holder  10  therefore provides a much lower-volume storage option for holding the CD and its associated booklet than is available in the prior art. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of the holders  10  may be bound together along their top edge and attached to a stand-up display stand  22 . Preferably, the holders  10  are coupled to one another and to the display stand  22  by means of a spiral binding  24 . The spiral binding  24  is made from a piece of wire that is wound into a spiral and extends through holes  26  (see FIG. 1) formed through the holders  10  and the display stand  22  for this purpose. In a preferred embodiment, the display stand  22  has a bottom section  21  having a bottom surface dimension of 3″ by 5⅝″ and top sections  23  having top surface dimensions of 5½″ by 5⅝″. The display stand  22  is preferably formed from cardboard or other stiff material and forms a triangular cross-section, as shown in FIG.  2 . More preferably, such cardboard is padded and then covered with vinyl. 
     The use of the spiral binding  24  to attach the holders  10  to the display stand  22  allows individual holders  10  to be rotated around the spiral binding  24  and placed on the back side of the display stand  22 . In this way, the user may flip through the holders  10  until the desired holder  10  has been located, moving all of the holders  10  that are on top of the desired holder  10  to the rear of the display stand  22 . This places the desired holder  10  on the front of the display stand, in the CD and the information booklet are then within easy reach. 
     As can be seen in FIG. 2, the display stand  22  orients the holders  10  in a substantially vertical orientation when the bottom surface is positioned on a horizontal surface. As used herein, the term “substantially vertical orientation” means oriented more than 45° from the horizontal surface when measuring the angle  25 . 
     Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other means may be used to attach the holders  10  to the display stand  22 . For example, other binding techniques such as saddle stitching, perfect binding, two- or three-ring binding, rivets, nuts and bolts, etc. may be used. 
     Referring once again to FIG. 1, each of the holders  10  further includes a pair of holes  28  formed therethrough, preferably having a diameter of {fraction (5/16)}″. The holes  28  allow the holder  10  to be mounted in a three-ring (or other similar) binder. In order to remove the holder  10  preferably from the display stand  22  in order to mount it in such a three-ring binder, the holder  10  preferably further includes a tear line  30  formed near its top surface. The tear line  30  may comprise a mechanical perforation formed into the backside piece  12 , a heat seal line pressed into the backside piece  12  in order to weaken the vinyl at the seal line, or other means known in the art for creating an area of weakened material strength. The tear line  30  allows the individual holder  10  to be torn away from the spiral binding  24  in order to mount the holder  10  in a three-ring binder, or to use the holder  10  for any other purpose away from the display stand  22 . 
     Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes vinyl to form the holder  10  and vinyl-covered cardboard to form the display stand  22 , it will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art hat other materials may be used to form these pieces, such as heavy-stock paper, for example. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a second embodiment CD and booklet display stand, indicated generally at  50 . The display stand  50  includes a plurality of single CD and booklet holders  10 . 
     The plurality of holders  10  are preferably coupled to the display stand  50  by means of a pair of ¼″ holes drilled near their top edges and engaged with a two ring, 1″ capacity ring binder  54 . The size of the ring binder  54  and the number of rings thereon may be varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. The ring binder  54  is attached to a binder cover  56  by any convenient means, such as by a pair of rivets therethrough. The binder cover  56  is preferably formed from a padded board (such as cardboard) covered with a 14 gauge vinyl, although other materials may be used in its construction. As with the first embodiment discussed hereinabove, other means may be used to attach the holders  10  to the display stand  50 . The binder cover  56  preferably includes thin regions  57  that form preferential fold lines. 
     The binder cover  56  includes first and second top sections  55  and a pair of foldable end flaps  58  which form a bottom support surface for the binder cover  56  when it is engaged with the base  70  of the desktop display stand  50 , as shown in FIG.  3 . The base  70  is preferably formed from a rigid material, such as 75 gauge polyvinylchloride; however, the base  70  may be formed from any suitable material, such as injection-molded plastic, etc. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base  70  includes a pair of undercut slots  72  preferably formed entirely across a width thereof, allowing access to the slots  72  from either side of the base  70 . As shown in FIG. 3, the slots  72  allow the end flaps  58  to be engaged therein, thereby maintaining the binder cover  56  in an upright position for convenient presentation of the holders  10  upon a desktop. 
     The display stand  50  allows the individual holders  10  to be rotated around the ring binder  54  and placed at the backside of the binder cover  56 . In this way, the user may flip through the holders  10  until the desired holder  10  has been located, moving all of the holders  10  that are on top of the desired holder  10  to the rear of the display stand  50 . This places the desired holder  10  on the front of the display stand, and the CD and the information booklet are then within easy reach. Furthermore, the binder portion of the display stand  10  may be completely removed from the base  70  by sliding it sideways until it completely separates from the slots  72 . The binder cover  56  may then be folded as shown in FIG. 4 for secure transportation of the holders  10  and their contents. A closure  74  may be formed on the flaps  58 , such as a hook-and-loop closure, snaps, etc., in order to securely close the binder cover  56  while in transit. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 7-9, there is illustrated a preferred third embodiment CD and booklet display stand, indicated generally at  80 . The display stand  80  includes a plurality of single CD and booklet holders  10 . The plurality of holders  10  are preferably coupled to the display stand  80  by means of a pair of ¼″ holes drilled near their top edges and engaged with a two-ring, 1″ capacity ring binder  54 . The size of the ring binder  54  and the number of rings thereon may be varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. The ring binder  54  is attached to a binder cover  86  by any convenient means, such as by a pair of rivets therethrough. The binder cover  86  is preferably formed from a padded board (such as cardboard) covered with a 14 gauge vinyl, although other materials may be used in its construction. As with the preferred embodiment discussed hereinabove, other means may be used to attach the holders  10  to the display stand  50 . The binder cover  86  preferably includes thin regions  87  that form preferential fold lines. 
     The binder cover  86  includes first and second top sections  85  and a pair of first and second foldable end flaps  88  and  89 , which form a bottom support surface of the binder cover  86  when it is folded into its desktop display position as shown in FIG. 7. A thin flap of vinyl  90  extends from the second end flap  89 . A piece of hook-and-loop closure material  92  is attached a distal end of the strap  90  and mates with a complementary piece of hook-and-loop closure material  94  attached to the first end flap  88 . It can therefore be seen that the strap  90  couples the first end flap  88  to the second end flap  89  when the display stand  80  is in a desktop display position (as shown in FIG.  7 ), thereby preventing the display stand  80  from collapsing. 
     The display stand  80  further includes a third piece of hook-and-loop closure material  96  attached to the second end flap  89  and a fourth piece of hook-and-loop closure material  98  attached to the binder cover  56  below the position of the holders  10 . When the display stand  80  is folded into a portable, transport position as shown in FIG. 8, the hook-and-loop closure material piece  92  mates with the hook-and-loop closure material piece  98 , while the hook-and-loop closure material piece  94  mates with the hook-and-loop closure material piece  96 . 
     The display stand  80  allows the individual holders  10  to be rotated around the ring binder  54  and placed at the backside of the binder cover  86 . In this way, the user may flip through the holders  10  until the desired holder  10  has been located, moving all of the holders  10  that are on top of the desired holder  10  to the rear of the display stand  80 . This places the desired holder  10  on the front of the display stand  80 , and the CD and the information booklet are then within easy reach. Furthermore, the display stand  80  may be folded as shown in FIG. 8 for secure transportation of the holders  10  and their contents. It will be recognized by those having ordinary skill in the art that the hook-and-loop closure material pieces  92 - 98  may be replaced with any suitable closure device, such as snaps, magnetic closures, etc. 
     While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.