Abstract:
This invention provides an optical disk container that may be used for 8-cm. diameter optical disks. The container using an inset tray sized to conform with the 8-cm. disks while the outer dimensions of the case are sized to conform with the larger standard 12.5-cm. disks. This allows the container to make use of various existing items of manufacture and also utilize standard packing lines for the placement of disks in the containers that are configured to the outer dimensions of the larger disk jewel boxes. The inset tray is also provided with outer side edges that overlap the side walls of the base portion in which it is fitted to remove the gap that is otherwise created and reduce the risk of fingers or disks being damaged through pinching of skin or scratching of the disk from sharp edges.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to an optical data disk container and, in particular, although not necessarily solely, a container for holding 8-cm. diameter mini disks or other data disks or smaller dimension than the standard 12.5-cm. disks.  
         BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Optical disk containers have been provided in variety forms. Initially, optical disks in the form of standard sized CDs have been produced having both a base portion and a cover portion to form a relatively rigid container. The container protects the disk from damage as well as providing, typically, a space for containing cover sheets, booklets or similar information that may be provided with a compact disk.  
           [0003]    More recently, these traditional containers in the form of jewel boxes have been downsized to accommodate more recent compact disk technology in the form of mini disks. Mini disks are 8-cm. diameter disks and their recent introduction has required new designs for jewel boxes to accommodate such disks.  
           [0004]    One of the significant problems with mini disk jewel boxes is the size of the jewel box itself. Due to the smaller nature of the mini disk, the box itself is smaller and thereby does not fit traditional equipment such as CD racks or stands that a customer may already own for holding conventional disks.  
           [0005]    A much greater problem during manufacture comes in the packing of the jewel boxes with the disks and the provision of labels etc. As the apparatus for packaging was all designed for conventional-sized jewel boxes, current mini disks are manually packed. When dealing with the mass manufacture of such disks, manual packing can add significantly to the cost of the manufacturing process.  
           [0006]    On many specific jewel boxes, the container is provided with both a base and a pivotally mounted lid and an inset tray that carries the disk itself. The inset tray is normally provided with some form of central rose to engage with the central aperture in a disk and retain the disk in place.  
           [0007]    One of the problems with many traditional inset trays is that the tray nests between upper and lower sidewalls of the base portion and leaves a sharp edge on the sidewall or a small gap between the sidewall and the tray itself. Both the sharp edge and the gap have the potential to pinch or scratch a user&#39;s fingers in moving the hand onto the disk to lift the disk from the tray. Furthermore, such sharp edges around the tray may run the risk of damaging the disk itself.  
           [0008]    A typical example of such an arrangement is shown in European patent publication No. 0420350 in the name of Philips &amp; Dupont Optical Company. As can be clearly seen in FIG. 3 of that publication, the inset tray 25 is within a labeling portion 33 placed into a base portion 23. The sidewalls of the base portion 23 substantially aligned with the sidewall of the inset tray 25 as the sidewalls of the tray 25 is in sidewalls of the base portion 23. It is this listing that creates a small gap and sharp edges in the regions of the sidewalls which can be adverse by any minor misalignment of the two walls. It is this arrangement that can cause damage to users or to the disks themselves.  
         OBJECT OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disk container that may overcome some of the disadvantages of the prior art or at least provides the public with a useful choice.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in an optical disk container comprising:  
           [0011]    a base portion for retaining a compact disk;  
           [0012]    a pivotally mounted lid portion to enclose said compact disk in said base portion;  
           [0013]    a central holding portion on or in said base portion for fitment through a central aperture of said compact disk and to thereby retain said compact disk;  
           [0014]    said base portion having front, rear and opposed sidewalls spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to or greater than the diameter of a standard compact disk; and  
           [0015]    at least one circumferential wall portion concentric with said central holding portion to surround an outer edge of an 8-cm. optical disk within said base portion.  
           [0016]    Preferably said base portion includes a substantially planar base panel and an inset tray wherein said inset tray contains said central holding portion and said circumferential wall portion.  
           [0017]    Preferably said circumferential wall portion is interrupted by at least one recess for access of a user&#39;s finger to the outer circumferential edge of a disk.  
           [0018]    Accordingly, in a second aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in an optical disk container comprising:  
           [0019]    a base portion having a substantially planar base panel, a front wall, a rear wall and opposed sidewalls;  
           [0020]    a tray for fitment within said base portion to retain an optical disk;  
           [0021]    a pivotally mounted lid portion to enclose an optical disk retained within said tray; and  
           [0022]    wherein said inset tray has opposed edges extending to or beyond an outer edge of said opposed sidewalls of said base portion.  
           [0023]    Preferably said opposed edges of said tray are provided with a curved or chamfered upper edge.  
           [0024]    Preferably said lid portion has opposed sidewalls to reside outside said opposed edges of said inset tray and said opposed sides of said base portion when in a closed configuration.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]    Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings in which:  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an optical disk container in a closed configuration in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the optical disk container of FIG. 1 in an open configuration;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the optical disk container of the previous figures;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional perspective view through a base portion and inset tray of the embodiment of the previous figures;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the inset tray alone of the embodiment of the previous figures; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the underside of the inset tray of FIG. 5. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    Referring to the drawings, one particular embodiment of the invention is shown. In FIG. 1, an optical disk container  1  is shown in the closed condition. A base portion  2  and a pivotally mounted lid portion  3  co-operate to enclose a compact disk therebetween.  
         [0033]    Referring to FIG. 2, the optical data disk container can be seen in the open configuration. As shown, the base  2  and lid portion  3  are pivotally connected adjacent an edge of each of these portions.  
         [0034]    In this preferred form, the base portion  2  is intended to receive the optical disk. In accordance with most such containers, it is provided with an engaging means  4 , preferably in the form of a central rose to engage through the central aperture of a disk.  
         [0035]    In addition, a circumferential wall portion  5  is provided to surround and support at least a portion of the outer circumferential edge of the compact disk. There is no need for the circumferential wall portion  5  to be continuous around the entire perimeter of the compact disk. As shown in this embodiment, it may be provided in a series of segments around the perimeter. A further alternative could utilize a single partial circumferential wall to provide some stability and support to an engaged disk within the base portion  2 .  
         [0036]    As shown in FIG. 1, the general dimensions of this optical disk container are the same or similar to those used for a standard optical disk. In general terms, this leads to a width “A” of the container of around 12.5 cm. being the approximate diameter of a traditional optical disk.  
         [0037]    Due to the need for the pivotal connection of the lid  3 , the length of the container “B” is sometimes rather longer in the order of approximately 14 cm.  
         [0038]    To accommodate room for a booklet or other information inside the lid  3  and the recess for the optical disk, the depth “C” may be in the order of one centimeter.  
         [0039]    It will be appreciated that these general dimensions can change although it is an aspect of this invention that the container generally be of a similar dimension to those necessary for containing traditional compact disks.  
         [0040]    Returning to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the circumferential wall portion  5  is considerably inset from the outer edges of the base  2 . In fact, the circumferential wall portion  5  is substantially concentric with a central axis  6  and spaced from that axis at a distance suitable for supporting the outer perimeter of an 8-cm. diameter mini disk.  
         [0041]    The preferred embodiment as described is made with reference to a container for an 8-cm. diameter mini disk. However, it should be appreciated that other disks of smaller dimension than the traditional 12.5-cm. disk are available. These do not necessarily come with a regular circular perimeter. Recent adaptions to optical disks have included smaller size disks in the shape of credit cards, business cards or other irregular shapes within the general outer envelope of the traditional 12.5-cm. disk which most apparatus is already sized to accommodate.  
         [0042]    In this preferred form, the circumferential wall portion  5  may comprise an outer edge of a recess into the base  2  into which the optical disk may be placed. In this manner, the recess  7  is at a plane slightly lower than the surrounding regions  8  of the base portion  2 . To assist in removal of the optical disk, one or more recesses  9  may be placed around the perimeter of the disk and interrupt the circumferential wall portion  5 . These recesses  9  allow a fingertip to access the edge of an optical disk contained in the recess  7 .  
         [0043]    In this preferred form, the recesses  9  may have a concave lower surface, the lowest point of which may be below the plane of the recess  7  so that the fingertip may partially engage underneath the edge of the optical disk.  
         [0044]    In accordance with the general layout for optical disk containers for traditional compact disks, the base portion  2  may have a front wall  10 , a rear wall  11  and opposed sidewalls  12  and  13 . It is the distance between the pairs of walls  10  and  11  and  12  and  13  that dictates the general dimension of the base portion  2  and the optical disk container as a whole. As mentioned previously, these are dimensioned to approximately the same as for a traditional compact disk container with each of the opposed walls being separated from the other by a distance approximately equal to or greater than the diameter of a traditional compact disk.  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 3, it can be seen that the base portion  2  may comprise an outer shell of walls with the details including the central engaging means  4 , circumferential wall  5  and such being provided on an inset tray  15  to nest with the base portion  2  so as to provide the overall lower portion of the container  1 .  
         [0046]    Typically, such trays  15  are provided with co-operating engagement means such as protrusions  16  and  18  to engage corresponding means such as apertures  17  and  19  to locate and hold the tray  15  in the base portion  2 . Generally four such engagement means would be utilized adjacent the corners of the tray  15 . A variety of other engagement means could be used as alternatives.  
         [0047]    Also with reference to FIG. 3, the rotational engagement of the base  2  and lid portion  3  can be seen to comprise co-axial protrusions and recesses  20 ,  21 ,  22  and  23 .  
         [0048]    When the container  1  is manufactured in such a manner using an inset tray  15  as shown in FIG. 3, additional utility can be gained. It will be appreciated that the base portion  2  and lid portion  3  of this particular example could be utilized with a variety of different trays for different sized disks allowing the standardization of manufactured components. Also important is the ability to use many standard packing machines for the disks themselves as the outer dimensions of the container conform to those for which the machines were built.  
         [0049]    Referring to FIG. 4, a cross-section through the base portion  2  and the associated inset tray  15  can be seen. To assist with the support, location and protection of the inside of the container, the base portion  2  is typically provided with sidewalls  12  and  13 . These extend generally perpendicular from the principal plane of the base portion  2 .  
         [0050]    Once viewed in cross-section, the detail of the sidewalls of the inset tray  15  can be seen. It will be appreciated that the inset tray  15  is provided with two opposed sidewalls  25  and  26 , each carrying an outer side edge  27  and  28  respectively. The side edges  27  and  28  are provided on extending flanges progressing outwardly and perpendicular to the walls  25  and  26  to which they are attached.  
         [0051]    In providing the inset tray in this manner, it can be seen that the outer edges  27  and  28  achieve a greater degree of separation than the sidewalls  12  and  13  of the base portion  2  on which they reside. This allows the outer edge of these sidewalls to be finished with a rounded or chamfered upper corner to provide a smooth outer edge to the assembled base and inset tray together.  
         [0052]    It can also be seen that the base  2  is provided with extending flanges  29  and  30  to carry outer edges to the base plane of the portion  2 . These flanges  29  and  30  are intended to extend beyond the extension of the tray edges  27  and  28 . Indeed, it can be seen in FIG. 4 that the associated sidewalls of the base portion  2  being walls  12  and  13  are inset from the flanges  29  and  30 . The flanges  29  and  30  provide surfaces for the engagement of the walls of the lid portion  3 . It is intended in this construction that the lid portion  3  carries sidewalls that will nest outside the walls  12  and  13  of the base portion  2  and the inset tray  25  and  26 . This encloses the container with a smooth outer wall from the lid  3  butted against the flanges  12  and  13 .  
         [0053]    In other versions of the container, the base portion walls  12  and  13  or even the inset tray walls  25  and  26  could be provided as the external wall to the entire assembly as the lid portion  3  could be provided without any significant extent of walls on these opposed sides and instead simply engage with the base or tray.  
         [0054]    The particular configuration, shown in FIG. 4 nests the walls  25  and  26  from the inset tray inside those of the walls  12  and  13  of the base portion. The opposite configuration is also possible with the outer edges  27  and  28  being provided as upper corners directly above the outer face of the walls  25  and  26 . In either configuration, the outer edges  27  and  28  can provide a less sharp outer edge. It is preferred that the outermost edge of the portions  27  and  28  extends beyond the outer face of the walls  25  and  26 , hence the configuration shown in FIG. 4. The reason for this is that it allows the chamfering of the edges without reducing the structural integrity of the connection between the walls  25  and  26  and the upper surface of the inset tray  15 .  
         [0055]    It will also be appreciated that as the walls  25  and  26 ,  12  and  13  and those downwardly depending from the lid portion  3  all overlap to some extent, there is no requirement that any of these three sets of walls be continuous along the length of the wall. It is preferred that at least the very outer wall, in this embodiment the downwardly dependent walls from the lid, extend all the way along to provide a smooth continuous outer face to the side of the finished container. However, for the sake of closure, this is not essential.  
         [0056]    The inset tray walls  25  and  26  could be intermittent portions simply used to locate the tray conveniently within the base walls  29  and  30 , or indeed omitted altogether.  
         [0057]    With reference to FIG. 5, a perspective upper view of the inset tray  15  is shown. It can be seen that the outer edges and walls of the inset tray are also provided with small recesses  32 ,  33 ,  34  and  35 . These recesses are provided to allow the provision of the tabs  38 ,  39 ,  40  and  41  in the lid as shown in FIG. 2. These tabs allow for the retention of an information booklet containing music lyrics, computer program information or the like that relates to the disk contained within.  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 6 shows a perspective underside view of the inset tray  15 . In this view, it can be seen that bearing support portions  44 ,  45 ,  46  and  47  are provided on the underside to further support the upper surface of the inset tray  15  from the base portion  2 .  
         [0059]    Thus it can be seen that the invention provides a container for an optical disk that is capable of carrying and supporting an 8-cm. optical disk while still providing outer dimensions that are designed for use with conventional manufacturing equipment and more importantly, packing equipment. Such an arrangement can significantly improve current packing techniques for mini disks.  
         [0060]    Further, the provision of extending outer side edges on the tray that cover the upstanding walls from the base portion allows the container to be provided with a smooth outer edge to protect user and contents of such containers.  
         [0061]    It is to be appreciated that the preceding description is of preferred embodiments of the invention and should not be considered limiting to the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Specific integers referred to throughout the description are deemed to incorporate known equivalents where appropriate.