WO2005008671A1

WO2005008671A1 - Package for cd or dvd and assembly of such a package and a cd or dvd

Info

Publication number: WO2005008671A1
Application number: PCT/NL2004/000521
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alfred Langerak
Original assignee: Fountain Technologies BV
Current assignee: Fountain Technologies BV
Priority date: 2003-07-21
Filing date: 2004-07-21
Publication date: 2005-01-27
Anticipated expiration: 2006-01-21
Also published as: NL1023962C2

Abstract

The invention relates to a package for a CD or DVD, comprising a first and a second cover part, preferably pivotally interconnected, while at least one of the cover parts and/or the CD or DVD to be packaged therein is provided with an integrated suspension means by which the package in closed condition can be suspended.

Description

Title: Package for CD or DVD and assembly of such a package and a CD or DVD.

The invention relates to a package for a CD or DVD. Packages for CDs and DVDs are known from practice. For instance, Jewel cases are offered, consisting of a first and a second cover part, interconnected by hinge pins. The cover parts are manufactured separately from each other and then assembled. A tray is placed in one of the cover parts, in which tray a CD or DVD can be laid in. Further, Diamond boxes are offered which are injection moulded in one piece. Two cover parts are then pivotally connected to each other by a back, on which back retaining means for a CD or DVD are provided. The known packages have standard outer dimensions, at least measured in a plane parallel to a CD included therein. As a result, they can be stored for instance in standard storing devices. In such storing devices, the packages are pushed against each other so that only a back is visible from the outside. The object of the invention is to provide a package for CDs or DVDs which offers the possibility for storing the package with the CD or DVD therein such that then a larger part of the package than only the back remains visible. A further object of the invention is to provide such a package which has a pleasant appearance and is relatively inexpensive in manufacture and use. The object of the invention is further to provide a package for CDs or

DVDs which, in particular together with the CD or DVD packaged therein, offers a pleasant appearance and can serve, for instance, as a collector's item. Further, the object of the invention is to provide such a package, together with a device in which or on which the packages can be displayed together with CDs or DVDs included therein. ^' At least a number of these and other objects are achieved with a package according to the invention characterized by the features of claim 1. With a package according to the invention, a suspension means is provided on at least one of the cover parts so that the package can be suspended in a simple manner. By providing the suspension means as an integral part of the package, this cannot come loose inadvertently, so that in a simple manner, the package is prevented from becoming damaged.

Alternatively, the suspension means can be a part of the CD or DVD, by which the package, also in closed form, can be suspended, as well as the CD or DVD separately. By providing the package and/or the CD or DVD with a suspension means with which the closed package with CD or DVD can be suspended, the package can be displayed in a simple manner both in a shop or the like, or at an end user's. Preferably, the suspension means is then provided such that the package can be positioned having one face of the cover part in sight. Preferably, a package according to the invention has a form deviating from a rectangular or circular form. In particular, a package according to the invention is preferably shaped as an object of use such as a piece of clothing or product, or of a person or animal. Thus, a package with a pleasant appearance is obtained and, moreover, through the shape of the package, already a relation can be made with the kind of information on the CD or DVD to be packaged therein. Preferably, in an assembly according to the invention, a CD or DVD also, or in addition to the package, has a form deviating from a circular form. As a rule, such CDs or DVDs are indicated as shaped CD or shaped DVD. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, both the package and the CD or DVD are designed having a form which deviates from a rectangular and circular form, while the CD and the package are substantially identical in shape. With it, a particularly interesting assembly is obtained. The CD or DVD and/or the package can comprise a print and/or printed matter, preferably fixedly connected to the CD or DVD or the package, respectively, for instance through in mold labelling. Preferably, the print contains information such as a depiction of the object of the information recorded on the CD or DVD. A series of packages can be designed to be identical in shaped, while CDs or DVDs to be packaged therein differ mutually in, for instance, only a part of the print and the information recorded thereon. For instance, a series of packages and CDs or DVDs can be designed having the shape of soccer shirts, provided with suspension means in the form of clothes hangers, while the CDs or DVDs and/or the packages are provided with information of different players of a team and are designed in the colours of the respective team. In the same series, the CDs or DVDs can differ as to appearance through, for instance, the respective numbers of the respective players, personal promotional expressions and the like. Preferably, a package according to the invention is injection molded in one piece. Preferably, a package according to the invention has dimensions such that it fits within the outer contours of a standard Jewel case, so that the package fits into a standard storage device for CDs or DVDs. The invention further relates to an assembly of a package according to the invention and a shaped CD or DVD and an assembly comprising a package according to the invention and a device on which different packages and/or CDs or DVDs can be displayed, in particular, from which they can be suspended. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method characterized by the features of claim 11. With such a method, packages and in particular series of associated packages can be manufactured and displayed in a particularly simple and attractive manner. In the further subclaims, further advantageous embodiments of devices, assemblies and methods according to invention are given. In clarification of the invention, hereinafter, embodiments thereof will be elucidated with reference to the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows, in perspective view, a package with a CD or DVD according to a invention therein, in closed condition, from a first side; Fig. 2 shows, in perspective view, a package according to Fig. 1, in opened condition; Fig. 3 shows, in perspective view, a package according to Fig. 1, in closed condition, from an opposite side; Fig. 4 shows, in perspective view, a package according to Fig. 1, in opened condition, with the CD or DVD taken out; and Fig. 5 shows, in perspective view, a suspension device with packages according to the invention In the drawing, embodiments of the invention are given only as examples. They should not be understood to be limitative in any manner. The embodiments given in the drawings illustrate the use of the present invention with shirts of soccer clubs. Naturally, the rights for the trademarks and portraits shown in the drawing belong with the rightful owners such as the trademark owners and form no part of the invention. In Figs. 1 - 4, a package 1 according to the invention is shown in the form of a box with a first 2, and second cover part 3, interconnected by hinge means 4. In the embodiment shown, the cover parts 2, 3 and the hinge means 4 are integrally formed through injection moulding. Preferably, the material of the cover parts 2, 3 is transparent and can be made wholly or partially nontransparant by means of in mold labelling or different printing and be provided with information. This will be explained further. Preferably, the hinge means 4 are provided as living hinges. The cover parts 2, 3 for that matter can also be designed separately from each other, comparable to, for instance, a Jewel case, while moreover different materials can be used. As appears from the drawing, the package 1 has a contour 5 deviating from a rectangle and circle. In the example shown, the package has the shape of a soccer shirt, whose hinge means 4 have been provided on the bottom side 6. On the opposite side 7, an opening 8 is provided in the shape of the collar 9 of the soccer shirt, which opening 8 is closed at the top side by a suspension means 10 in the shape of a clothes hanger. Like a real clothes hanger, this suspension means 10 has a hook 11 by which it can be suspended from, for instance, a pin or the like, as will be further elucidated with reference to Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 2, the suspension means 10 with the hook 11 are integrally formed with the first cover part 2, while the other cover part 3 is only provided with the collar 9. Closing means known per se (not shown) can be provided for holding the package closed, for instance cooperating clamping edges, snap fingers, resilient projections and the like. The cover parts 2, 3 are provided in the usual manner with raised edges 2A, 3A for confining the CD or DVD 12. As appears in particular from Figs. 2 and 4, in the package 1, a CD or DVD 12 is included, in particular a shaped CD. This CD or DVD 12 is identical in form to the package 1, in the exemplary embodiment shown therefore also in the shape of a soccer shirt. In the CD or DVD 12 an opening 13 is provided so that it can be played on a customary player. Preferably, this opening 13 is provided in the centre of gravity thereof. The CD or DVD 12 is further provided with a print on at least one, and preferably both sides, for instance in the colours of the respective football club, national team or the like. Only by way of illustration, a shirt is shown in the colours of Manchester United®, while a shirt of David Beckham® is represented. On the CD or DVD, for instance information about the respective soccer club and/or the respective player, image and/or sound fragments and other pieces of information can be recorded. Also, names of sponsors and the like can be represented. A series of such CDs or DVDs can be provided with a comparable print, while a distinction as to player can be made by, for instance, numbers, personal promotional expressions and the like. For instance, from a soccer selection of a team or country, of every player such an individualized CD or DVD can be included in a series. As indicated, the package 1 can be provided with a print, for instance through in mold labelling. With the embodiment shown, on the front (Fig. 1) a strip 14 is provided with an indication 15 of the respective player. The strip 14 comprises a middle part 16 which bears the indication 15 and, moreover, when the package 1 is closed, screens off the opening 13 in the CD or DVD 12. Naturally, also other prints or forms of printings can be used. On the rear side of the package (Fig. 3), a depiction 17 of the respective player, a barcode 18, data of origin 19 and the like can be provided, for instance by printing. In Fig. 5, a suspension device 20 is shown, in the shape of a raised board with a print of half a soccer field 22 with lines 23. On suitable positions, corresponding to positions of players on such a half, suspension hooks 21 are provided from which packages 1 with CDs or DVD as shown earlier can be suspended by a respective suspension means 10, such as shirts from a clothes hanger. With it, a simple device is provided for displaying the packages 1 in a shop as well as a device on which the packages 1 can be displayed by a collector. Moreover, on the suspension device 1, for instance by means of an indication 24, it can simply be indicated which team is involved. Naturally, a package 1 and CD or DVD according to the invention can have any shape and size. Preferably, the contour 5 of the package is chosen such that the entire contour 5, the suspension element 10 included, is located within a rectangle having the dimensions of a normal Jewel case, i.e. within a rectangle of approximately 142 x 125 mm. As a result, it fits into the customary storing devices, processing devices and the like, while the CD or DVD fits in a customary CD player or DVD player. In an alternative embodiment, the CD or DVD can be provided with a suspension means such as the hook shown, which can reach through an opening in the package as far as outside the package so that the package and/or the CD or DVD can be suspended thereby. A package according to the invention can also be provided with suspension means such as a hook connected to a cover part via a further hinge means, a sliding means or the like. In such an embodiment, when the package is closed, the suspension means can be folded into or slid into the package and after the package is opened, be folded out or slid out in order to function as suspension means for the package and/or the CD or DVD. The suspension means can also be designed differently, for instance as an eye or a different sort of opening. It will be clear that the invention is not limited in any manner to the exemplary embodiments represented in the drawing and the description. Many variations thereon are possible within the framework of the invention as outlined by the claims. For instance, the packages and/or the CDs and/or DVDs can have a different shape, for instance the shape of a different object of use, such as different sporting equipment, of an art object or the like. Also, in addition to or instead of a CD, a different plate-shaped information carrier can be included, such as a telephone card or the like. Moreover, shaped CDs and/or DVDs and/or associated packages can be provided which are different with respect to shape but jointly, placed together, give a desired appearance, for instance of an object of use, a building, a person or animal, of which the individual CDs, DVDs and/or packages form parts. Preferably, packages and/or CDs or DVDs according to the invention serve as collector's items. The package can be injection molded but can naturally also be designed differently, for instance entirely or partially by deep drawing or vacuum forming, as a blister package or the like.

Claims

1. A package for a CD or DVD, comprising a first and second cover part, preferably pivotally interconnected, wherein at least one of the cover parts and/or the CD or DVD to be packaged therein is provided with an integrated suspension means by which the package, in closed condition, can be suspended.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the suspension means is designed as a suspension hook or suspension eye.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the package has an outer contour which is defined by the cover parts, while the suspension means reaches at least partly outside the outer contour.

4. A package according to any one of claims 1 - 3, wherein the cover parts are connected by hinge means, while the suspension means is provided opposite the hinge means.

5. A package according to any one of claims 1 — 4, wherein the cover parts define an outer contour which deviates from a circular or rectangular shape.

6. A package according to any one of claims 1 — 5, wherein the package has outer dimensions which are smaller than the outer dimensions of a standard Jewel case.

7. An assembly of a package according to any one of the preceding claims and a CD or DVD, wherein the CD or DVD is a shaped CD or DVD with a shape deviating from a circular shape.

8. An assembly according to claim 7, wherein the package has an outer contour which is substantially identical in shape to the outer contour of the CD or DVD.

9. An assembly according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the package and the CD or DVD are provided with print, preferably with in mould labels, while the print of the package, when the package is closed with a CD or DVD included therein, covers a central opening of the CD or DVD.

10. An assembly of at least one package according to any one of claims 1 — 6 or an assembly according to any one of claims 7 - 9 and a suspension device from which a series of different packages according to the invention can be suspended.

11. A method for spreading information, wherein: on a CD or DVD, information is provided about a selected object such as a person or animal; - on the CD or DVD, a print is provided matching the respective object; a package for the CD or DVD is provided on which or in which a print and/or printed matter is provided associated with the respective object; and - wherein the package is provided with suspension means for suspending the package in closed condition with the CD or DVD at least partly visible therein.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein a series of CDs or DVDs is provided having a substantially identical shape and a comparable print, while on each CD or DVD information about a different aspect of the respective object is provided and wherein a suspension device is provided from which the respective CDs or DVDs are suspended, arranged as to object and/or aspect thereof.

13. The use of shaped CDs and/or DVDs as collectors' items, wherein the CDs or DVDs are of identical shape and/or have matching forms, such that a series of such CDs and/or DVDs forms a group.