| Compact disk (cd) jewel case hinge storage apparatus and marketing method -> Monitor Keywords |
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  Compact disk (cd) jewel case hinge storage apparatus and marketing methodRelated Patent Categories: Special Receptacle Or Package, For Holding A Machine Readable Recording Medium (e.g., Compact Disc, Phonograph Record, Tape, Floppy Disk), For Holding An Optical Disc (e.g., Compact Disc)The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070163901. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The applicant has filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office two disclosure document deposit requests covering the invention disclosed herein on May. 23, 2005. These filings were entitled "Container or Dispenser for CD or DVD Cases," and "Compact Disk Case with Compartments for Sample Merchandise and Marketing Materials." TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to optical "compact disk" ("CD," "DVD," or "optical disk") containers (also known as "CD Jewel Cases" or "CD Cases"), which protect optical disks upon transport and sale, and apparatus by which one may utilize space or spaces Within such holders to store, transport, display, and market other products with optical disks. More specifically, the present invention consists primarily of modifications of CD Cases of otherwise standard design, which modifications provide access to unused areas within CD Cases. In the present invention, relatively minor changes in standard CD Cases provide space within a CD Case, and ready access to that space for items which might be sold with an optical disk in such a CD Case. In some versions of the present invention, such modifications and changes may include components which define holders which may be inserted into a space within a CD Case, into which other items may be placed. However, the holders used to position optical disks within CD Cases (generally referred to as "CD Trays" or "Trays"), if properly formed consistent with the present invention, will alone provide access to usable space within such CD Cases. The largest and most usable space which may be used for holding additional items according to the present invention is generally found at or near the point where the bottom and top covers are joined in a movable "hinge." [0003] The present invention also provides a marketing method for presenting two or more items to a prospective purchaser. With such a method, one may place an additional item in the space near the hinge of a CD Case formed according to the present invention, and that additional item may then be stored and transported with the optical disk and its case, and eventually presented to a potential purchaser. Such additional items, which may be solid or liquid, single or many, and are often consumables (such as perfume), when contained in a CD Case consistent with the present invention, are prominently presented to prospective purchasers at the "point of sale" for the optical disk. On the other hand, an optical disk may be offered as a "premium" or gift, often of lesser value, which may be received by a purchaser along with, and at the point of sale of, the perfume or other additional item. In any case, wherever such optical disks and additional items are presented to a prospective purchaser utilizing the apparatus of the present invention, such optical disks and additional items are "Co-marketed" by prominently displaying both the optical disk and the additional item (or items) for sale in the same CD Case. [0004] As "digital versatile disks" ("DVDs"), and most other optical disks, are similar in size and shape to compact disk optical disks, DVD Cases and other cases may be formed with access to their interior similar to that found in the modified CD Cases of the present invention. As a result, similar Co-marketing opportunities arise when additional items are situated within such other cases, according to the present invention. BACKGROUND ART OF THE INVENTION [0005] Compact optical disks have gradually replaced vinyl disks for the recording of audio and visual material, as well as for non-audio/visual, digitally recorded material for computer file storage. As a result, large quantities of recorded or unrecorded compact optical disks are produced and used in different fields of application, and such disks must be properly protected and identified using a storage case. Generally, a rigid three part clear plastic case is used for these purposes, such CD Cases are generally formed from stiff plastic material such as styrene. The three parts of standard CD Cases generally comprise (1) a main body, or case bottom or bottom cover, into which is placed (2) a CD Tray, which is formed to hold a optical disk, generally within a recessed well or depression formed in the Tray, and (3) a top cover (or "Front Cover"), formed to close over the interior space created within the main body. A hinge is generally supplied in standard cases. Such hinge is created by the interaction of pins on the Front Cover with holes in the main body. The pins of the hinge are formed on tabs extending from one edge of the Front Cover, at the ends of such edge, while the holes are formed near a corresponding edge of the main body, and at the ends of such edge. [0006] The standard CD Case as a whole is asymmetrically formed around the optical disk which it holds, so that the holes and the pins forming the hinge are formed in such a case beyond the area required to contain such optical disk. With such placement, the Front Cover of the standard optical disk case completely covers an optical disk placed within the main body, however the Front Cover does not cover the entire front side of such CD Case. Rather, there is a substantially open, and generally unused, space just beyond the diameter of an optical disk placed within the case. This space (the "hinge space") is formed in a standard CD case by various walls or panels, and is generally bounded at its bottom (when the CD Case is laying flat) or back (when the case is set on its edge) by a portion of the main body of the CD Case. Another portion of the main body also defines the hinge space at the distal "spine" edge of the CD Case, and two additional portions of the main body define the ends of the hinge space, into which the hinge holes are formed. In a standard CD Case, the hinge space is also generally bounded at its top (when the CD Case is laying flat) or front (when the case is set on its edge) by an extension of the CD Tray beyond the diameter of the held optical disk. The CD Tray in a standard CD Case also defines an interior part-wall between the hinge space and the interior of the CD Case which holds the optical disk, and the Tray defines a recessed well in which the optical disk may reside. The CD Tray is held rigidly in position within the main body by pins formed on the Tray, which Tray pins insert into corresponding holes formed in the main body of the CD Case. [0007] Other variations on this general design exist in more recent, thin CD Cases, in which the space into which the hinge is formed is left open at its bottom (or back). In such variations, the interior of the CD Case and the hinge space are bounded almost entirely by the top of the case, as the case top extends beyond the diameter of an optical disk placed in the CD Case. A spine edge in such variations is formed at the edge of the top of the case, and tabs or walls are formed in the case top to define the ends of this space, and act as end tabs which co-act to form a hinge. The end tabs in these thin cases generally have holes formed in their ends, which holes may interact with pins formed on extensions from the main body of the CD Case. The opening at the back of the space at the hinge in these thin cases is a consequence of the geometry inherent in reducing the thickness of a case, and is desirable because the design uses less plastic material overall to form the case. As a result of the thin design of these thin cases, the space near the hinge usable for storage in such cases is generally too small to carry much more than identifying information printed on paper. [0008] A number arrangements of the three parts of a standard CD Case have been developed for storage or display of additional items with the optical disk in the CD Case, and such arrangements often attempt to utilize the space adjacent the hinge. Uniformly, the purpose of such arrangements has been one of two: [0009] (1) Firstly, the space near the hinge is used in many prior arrangements to hold an ornament to attract a prospective purchaser, or induce a purchase, or for later ornamental purposes as the CD Case is used. [0010] (2) Secondly, the space adjacent the hinge space is used to hold a fragrance which stays with the CD Case, again to attract a prospective purchaser or induce a purchase, or so that a purchaser may smell such a fragrance while using the CD Case to store or use the optical disk. [0011] Some of these prior arrangements are embodied in devices which appear superficially like the present invention, or have one or more features of the present invention. In attempting to achieve useful storage, display, and fragrance characteristics consistent with the purpose of these prior devices, others have created variations on the standard CD Case design to accomplish their purposes. Such apparatus within the related art includes: [0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,912 to Ganser et al., which discloses a housing for a compact disk having an "information carrier" in the hinge portion of a CD Case. [0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,455 to Biedebach et al., which discloses a compact disk package with spine insert, in which a fully enclosed space is defined by the three parts of a CD Case. [0014] U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,143 to Yoshioka, which discloses a compact disk package with ornamental and fragrance effects created by filling a space in the hinge portion of a CD Case. [0015] The inventions disclosed in these patents and appearing in these products appear to fulfill their respective objectives. As noted above, these objectives include placing objects or substances within the space near the hinge to attract a prospective purchaser with "eye catching" ornamental objects or substances, or placing such objects or substances within the space adjacent the hinge to induce a purchase, as a prospective purchaser weighs the attractiveness of various products. The objectives of the inventions disclosed in prior patents also include placing a fragrance within the space adjacent the hinge, which fragrance is then allowed to dissipate as the CD Case is used by the purchaser. This is in essence the same attractive and sale inducing function achieved with ornamental objects, as a prospective purchaser considers at the time of purchase the benefit of the presence of the fragrance so delivered when the purchaser may smell such a fragrances while the CD Case is in use. [0016] However, the objectives achieved by these prior inventions is wholly unlike the objectives of the present invention, which are more fully set forth below, but include modifying CD Cases of otherwise standard design to provide access to the hinge space for delivery of a second product which might beneficially be sold with a first product residing on an optical disk. Such first product may be music, or video, content, or it may be software or even simply digitized data which may be useful to a prospective purchaser. Such a second product may be perfume, or candy, or a pen for marking the CD, or a towel for cleaning the CD, or any other product which might naturally be conjoined at the point of sale with the CD and its content. By using the unused space within standard CD Cases, as modified consistent with the present invention, such conjoined products benefit from the delivery of two products with a single sale, or the sampling of one product while considering purchase of another product. Using the apparatus of the present invention, the hinge space becomes available to jointly sell two products, or to sell one of the products using the other product only as a promotional device to achieve the sale. The present invention thereby provides vendors with flexibility in packaging their products to increase the promotional impact on prospective purchasers for any product which might be written to a CD, and for any product which might be placed within the hinge space of a CD Case modified according to the present invention. This increased promotional impact, achieved by jointly marketing two products in separate compartments of a single CD Case, results in an entirely new marketing method using a CD Case, which method is generally referred to herein as "co-marketing" or "product group marketing." The prior patents and products in the art do not describe or suggest a media carrying case which allows delivery of two products with a single sale, nor do they describe or suggest an apparatus which allows increased promotional impact through jointly marketing two products in separate compartments of a single CD Case, nor do they describe or suggest "co-marketing" or "product group marketing" using a CD Case consistent with he present invention. [0017] The objectives of the present invention are only achieved by creating, in the present invention, a different apparatus than is found in the prior art, and the apparatus of the present invention is uniquely situated to achieve these objectives. No patent or product of which the inventor is aware provides ready access to the Hinge Portion of a CD Case, which access is designed specifically to co-market products as set forth herein. The method of the present invention, which comprises co-marketing or product group marketing using CD Cases, is best achieved using the CD Case of the present invention, as only this apparatus has been designed with product group marketing in mind. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Summary of the Invention [0018] In its simplest form, the present invention is a CD Case, which is generally used for holding and protecting an optical disk when not in use, and displaying an optical disk (or at least pictures and literature associated with that optical disk) for sale. However, the CD Case of the present invention is modified to provide an accessible space for holding and displaying other products which may beneficially be sold or sampled with the optical disk in the same CD Case. [0019] As noted above, a standard CD Case consists of a rigid three-part clear plastic case formed from stiff plastic material such as styrene. The first part of a standard CD Case is a main body, which is sometimes called the case bottom, or bottom cover, into which an optical disk may be placed. The second part of a standard CD Case is a CD Tray, which is formed to securely hold a CD or other optical disk within the main body. When the CD Tray is properly positioned in the main body of a standard CD Case, the Tray is securely situated in the main body over its entire area, and held in position within the main body by Tray pins extending from points near the four corners of the Tray, and corresponding Tray holes in the main body, into which the Tray pins may extend when the Tray is pressed into position within the main body. The third part of a standard CD Case is a Front Cover, formed to close over the main body, thereby creating in interior for the case. The Front Cover also is supplied with cover pins, the cover pins generally formed on tabs extending from one edge of the Front Cover, at the ends of such edge, so that each cover pin extends toward a corresponding tab and cover pin at an adjacent corner of the Front Cover. The cover pins may extend into corresponding holes in the main body, and when the Front Cover is engaged with the main body in finished position, and the cover pins are set into the corresponding holes in the main body, a hinge is created. The hinge so created allows the Front Cover to rotate along one of its edges in fixed rotational relationship with a corresponding edge of the main body, as the cover pins rotate within the corresponding holes of the main body. [0020] With this arrangement of three components in a standard CD Case, a space is created at or directly adjacent the line at which the main body of the CD Case co-acts hinge-like with the Front Cover. This space within the interior of the CD Case in standard CD Cases, extends in its entirety beyond the diameter of an optical disk held within the CD Case. The standard CD Case as a whole is therefore asymmetrically formed so that the cover pins and corresponding holes are formed beyond the area in such a case required to contain an optical disk. The hinge space is directly behind and between the main body holes in the standard CD Case, and between the cover pins when the Front Cover is snapped into position over the main body in such a case, and so the entirety of the hinge space is within the CD Case, but just beyond the diameter of an optical disk placed within the Tray of the case. In this arrangement, the interior boundary of the hinge space is just beyond the edge of an optical disk placed within the Tray of the fully assembled CD Case, and the exterior boundary of the hinge space is at the "spine" of the CD Case, adjacent the pivot line established by the hinge between the main body and the Front Cover. In this standard CD Case arrangement of components, the hinge space is bounded at its back (when the case is set on its edge) by a portion of the main body of the CD Case. Another portion of the main body also defines the hinge space at the spine edge, and two additional portions of the main body define the ends of the hinge space, into which the main body holes are formed. [0021] With this arrangement of components in a standard CD Case, the Front Cover of the standard CD Case completely covers an optical disk placed in correct position within a Tray properly positioned within the main body of the CD Case, but the Front Cover does not cover the hinge space. Instead a front wall (or "Front Panel") covers the front of the hinge space in a standard CD Case. The space near the hinge in a standard CD Case has been designed into standard CD Cases to provide anchors between the main body and the Front Side to which components which function as a hinge may be attached (i.e., the cover pins and corresponding holes). The hinge in a standard CD Case is its weakest point, and so most often broken. Accordingly, the top pins and corresponding holes in the main body are increased in size to provide the strength to avoid such breakage, and the Front Panel covering the front of the space near the hinge primarily fills the function of providing additional rigidity where additional rigidity is desirable to avoid breaking the hinge. Continue reading... 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