Field of application of the invention

The present invention refers to the field of containers for recording, cinematography and computer industry. More precisely, the present invention refers to a casing for containing a disc-like storage medium.

By "storage medium" it is intended a device on which it is possible to store, in a reversible or irreversible manner, information of various type, such as sounds, images and/or data.

By "disc-like storage medium" it is intended a circular, flat thin plate acting as a storage medium. By way of example, optical reading discs are included among the disc-like storage media. Optical reading discs are often indicated, in accordance with the format, as "Compact Discs" (or the relative acronym "CD"), "Digital Video Disc" (or the relative acronym "DVD") and "Mini CD". Hereinbelow in the present description, with the expression "storage medium" it is intended to identify all the disc-like storage media.

Review of the prior art

The casings for storage media are of two types: envelope and fitted.

Envelope casings are, by way of example, coverings comprising two walls, usually square or rectangular and made of paper, cardboard or plastic material, op- posite and joining each other along three of the four edges. The mutually separate pair of edges acts as an opening, through which a storage medium can be inserted in the seat delimited by the two walls. The envelope casings can be provided with a strip that is extended from one of the two walls at the free edge and is foldable on the other wall to close the opening of the casing. Other examples of casings that fall within the aforesaid type are the "enclosure", "foldable" or "hidden" casings between two components of a same product.

Fitted casings comprise a first flat plate, usually square or rectangular and made of plastic material, having a cylindrical projection intended to be fit in the central circular hole with which the storage media are usually provided. The cylindrical projection can be situated at the centre of a disc-like cavity; due to the presence of such cavity, the storage medium does not come into contact with the first plate when the projection is fit in the central hole thereof. The fitted casings usually comprise a second plate having the same size as the first plate and hinged thereto along one edge, so as to be rotatable with respect to the first plate. The second plate can be positioned in a manner so as to be opposite the first plate and therefore acts as a cover of the casing. Casings of "jewel case" type are by way of example included among the fitted casings.

The above-listed casings have a structure such that the insertion or extraction from the same of a storage medium could cause internal and/or surface alterations to the latter.

In particular, with regard to the envelope casings, when a storage medium is in- serted in the casing (or, analogously, is extracted from the same), the storage medium rubs against the walls of the covering at the internal face of said walls. With regard to the fitted casings, the removal of the storage medium from the casing usually occurs by grasping the storage medium with one's hand along the edge thereof and exerting a traction tending to dislodge the storage medium from the central cylindrical projection. In carrying out this operation, the storage medium is inevitably bent and internal forces are generated, above all in light of the fact that the operations of insertion and extraction of a storage medium from a casing usually occur multiple times.

Objects of the invention

Objet of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks and to indicate a casing for a disc-like storage medium that allows a facilitated insertion and extraction of the storage medium from the casing. Summary of the invention

The subject of the invention is a casing for a disc-like storage medium, the storage medium comprising a first flat face, a second flat face and a lateral edge, said faces being circular, opposite and mutually joined by the lateral edge, the casing comprising:

• a seat for housing the storage medium;

• means for connecting the storage medium to said seat when the storage medium is housed in said seat,

wherein according to the invention:

the housing seat comprises a first portion in contact with the storage medium at said first face when the storage medium is housed in said seat;

the connection means comprising:

• a first tab having a first free edge comprised between a first end and a second end, the first tab being connected to the housing seat at least at the first end and the second end, the first tab being opposite - at least partly starting from the first free edge - the storage medium at said second face when the storage medium is housed in said seat, the storage medium being in contact, at the lateral edge thereof, with the first free edge at least at the first end and the second end when the storage medium is housed in said seat;

· a second tab having at least one second free edge comprised between a third end and a fourth end, the second tab being connected to the housing seat at least at the third end and the fourth end, the second tab being opposite - at least partly starting from the second free edge - the storage medium at said second face when the storage medium is housed in said seat, the storage medium being in contact, at the lateral edge thereof, with the second free edge at least at the third end and fourth end when the storage medium is housed in said seat;

the first end and the second end lying on opposite sides with respect to a diameter of the faces of the storage medium when the latter is housed in said seat, the third end and the fourth end lying on opposite sides with respect to said diameter;

the tabs being elastically flexible so as to facilitate the insertion of the storage medium in said seat by a user of the casing, and the removal of the storage medium from said seat by said user.

Further innovative characteristics of the present invention are described in the dependent claims.

According to one aspect of the invention, a first line joining the first end and the second end is parallel to a second line joining the third end and the fourth end. When the storage medium lies in the housing seat, it is in contact:

• at the first face, at least partly with the first portion of the housing seat;

• at the lateral edge, with the four ends of the two free edges of the two tabs; · at the second face, at least partly with the two tabs.

When the storage medium lies in the housing seat, it is therefore interposed with the first portion of the housing seat and with the two tabs. This constrains the storage medium to lie in a plane parallel to the faces thereof. In addition, the two lateral edge arcs of the storage medium respectively comprised between the two pairs of ends of the free edges of the two tabs are diametrically opposed. The contact between the storage medium and the four ends of the free edges of the two tabs thus prevents the storage medium from translating or rotating in said plane parallel to the faces of the storage medium.

The first portion of the housing seat and the two tabs therefore integrally con- nect the storage medium to the housing seat, and hence to the casing.

Advantageously, in order to insert the storage medium in the housing seat, it is sufficient to slightly bend the tabs. In particular, it is sufficient to bend the first tab as much as is required for abutting the lateral edge of the storage medium against the two ends of the free edge of the first tab, without the storage medi- um sustaining deformations or rubbing against the first tab or the first portion of the housing seat. Subsequently, it is necessary to bend the second tab as much as is required for abutting the storage medium against the first portion of the housing seat at the first face and against the two ends of the free edge of the second tab at the lateral edge thereof, once again without the storage medium sustaining deformations or rubbing against the second tab or the first portion of the housing seat. Given that the tabs are elastically flexible, once the operation of insertion of the storage medium has terminated, such tabs will tend to return into the configuration possessed when the storage medium does not lie in the housing seat.

Analogous and just as easy is the operation to be carried out for extracting the storage medium from the housing seat.

Advantageously, when the storage medium lies in the housing seat, the tabs only marginally cover the second face of the storage medium, i.e. in proximity to the lateral edge thereof. In such a manner, the tabs are minimally or not at all an obstacle for reading the writing or viewing the images possibly reproduced on the second face of the storage medium.

The casing, subject of the invention, is also inventive in light of the fact that the storage medium is housable in said seat in contact with a face opposite said first portion.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of the tabs {by way of example, the first) is obtained by providing a first slot in the housing seat, the first slot corresponding to the free edge of the tab and separating the first portion of the housing seat from the tab.

The tab obtained in the above-described manner is therefore coplanar with the first portion of the housing seat when the storage medium does not lie in the seat thereof. Given that the tab is elastic, after the storage medium has been housed in its seat, the tab tends to once again become coplanar with the first portion of the housing seat, thus lightly pressing the storage medium against the seat in which it lies. This connects the storage medium to the housing seat in an even more stable manner.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of the tabs {by way of example, the second) comprises a third free edge comprised between a fifth end and a sixth end, the tab being connected to the housing seat also at the fifth end and the sixth end of the third free edge, the tab being opposite - at least partly at a second portion comprised between the free edges thereof - the storage medium at said second face when the storage medium is housed in said seat.

The above-described tab therefore appears like a strip partly opposite one portion of the second face of the storage medium when the latter lies in the housing seat. Advantageously, the storage medium is thus even more stably constrained to lie in said plane parallel to the faces thereof.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of the free edges of the tabs (by way of example, the first free edge of the first tab) has a curvilinear progression with concavity facing towards a section of the lateral edge of the storage medium opposite the tab to which the free edge belongs.

Advantageously, the area of the tab portion opposite the second face of the storage medium is greater than the case in which the free edge of said tab has a rectilinear or curvilinear progression with convexity facing towards the lateral edge section of the storage medium opposite the tab. This ensures that the storage medium is even more stably constrained to lie in said plane parallel to the faces thereof.

According to another aspect of the invention, the distance between the ends belonging to a same free edge is a value comprised between 3/12 and 7/12 of the length of the diameter of the faces of the storage medium.

According to another aspect of the invention, the distance between the ends belonging to a same free edge is a value equal to 5/12 of the length of the diameter of the faces of the storage medium.

According to another aspect of the invention, the casing comprises at least one first sheet and one second sheet made of paper material mutually superimposed and connected to each other at least by a first fold which joins a first edge of the first sheet with a second edge of the second sheet;

the first sheet corresponding to the housing seat and comprising a first slot corresponding to the first free edge of the first tab and separating the first portion of the housing seat from the first tab;

the second sheet corresponding to the second tab, the first fold being interrupted by a second slot corresponding to the second free edge of the second tab, the second tab comprising a third free edge comprised between a fifth end and a sixth end, the second sheet being connected to the first sheet also at the fifth end and the sixth end of the third free edge, the second tab being opposite - at least partly at a second portion comprised between the second free edge and third free edge - the storage medium at the second face when the storage me- dium is housed in said seat.

By "paper material" it is intended a cellulose-base material that can be produced in sheets or thin plates. By way of example, the following are included among the paper materials: paper (whose basis weight is comprised between 10 g/m ² and 150 g/m ² for sheets with thickness comprised between 0.03 mm and 0.3 mm), paperboard (whose basis weight is comprised between 150 g/m ² and 450 g/m ² for sheets with thickness greater than 0.3 mm), cardboard (whose basis weight is comprised between 450 g/m ² and 1200 g/m ² for sheets with thickness not greater than 2 mm) and corrugated cardboard (constituted by two sheets of paper material to which a third corrugated sheet made of paper material is interposed and integrally connected).

By making the casing, subject of the invention, of paper material, it has a clearly lower environmental impact than the other casings present on the market, comprising or made of plastic material. The paper material is also adapted to be more easily decoratable with respect to other materials in which the casings for storage media are made today.

According to another aspect of the invention, the casing comprises a third sheet made of paper material opposite the first sheet in a manner such that the first sheet is interposed with the second sheet and the third sheet, the third sheet being connected to the first sheet at least by a second fold which joins a third edge of the first sheet with a fourth edge of the third sheet.

Advantageously, due to the presence of the third sheet, the portion of storage medium opposite the first flap at the second face, is opposite the third sheet at the first face. This constitutes a further protection for the storage medium.

According to another aspect of the invention, the paper material is cardboard. According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of the sheets has a thickness comprised between 0.12 mm and 3 mm.

According to another aspect of the invention, at least one of the sheets has a thickness of 0.225 mm.

According to another aspect of the invention, the width of the first tab is a value comprised between 1/30 and 1/10 of the length of the diameter of the faces of the storage medium. By "width of the first tab" it is intended the maximum distance between one point of the first free edge of the first tab and a line passing through the ends of the first tab.

According to another aspect of the invention, the width of the first tab is a value equal to 1/20 of the length of the diameter of the faces of the storage medium. Brief description of the figures

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the detailed description of an embodiment thereof and from the enclosed drawings, given as a merely non-limiting example, in which:

- figure 1 shows, in front plan view, a casing according to the present invention;

- figure 2 shows, in front plan view, the casing of figure 1 in which a disc-like storage medium is housed;

- figure 3 shows, in front plan view, a strip of cardboard starting from which it is possible to obtain the casing of figure 1.

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the invention

In the present description, in order to facilitate the description, reference is only made to one embodiment of the invention in which the casing is employed for containing a music disc, i.e. a disc-like storage medium for storing data corre- sponding to specific sounds. The stored data is readable by a suitable player that plays said sounds by means of a transducer. In addition to the abovemen- tioned CDs and DVDs, music discs can also include phonographic discs (also known as "vinyls", in reference to the vinyl resin used for making the same). It must be clear that the casing, subject of the invention, is not limited to the aforesaid example but is employable for containing any disc-like storage medium.

In the present description, one figure can also be illustrated with reference to elements not expressly indicated in that figure but in other figures. The scale and proportions of the various depicted elements do not necessarily correspond to actual scale and proportions.

With reference to figures 1 to 3, a casing 1 is illustrated in which a disc-like storage medium 2 is housable. By way of example, said storage medium is a music Compact Disc 2, i.e. a Compact Disc on which data has been stored corresponding to specific sounds. The Compact Disc 2 comprises a first flat face and a second flat face. The flat faces are circular, opposite each other and they have a diameter of 120 mm. The first face of the Compact Disc is not visible in the figures and is indicated hereinbelow in the present description with the expression "lower face". The second face of the Compact Disc is marked in the figures with the reference number 3 and is indicated hereinbelow in the present description with the expression "upper face". The faces of the Compact Disc 2 are mutually joined by a thin cylindrical lateral edge 4 having a height (corre- sponding to the thickness of the Compact Disc 2) of 1.2 mm.

The casing 1 is obtained starting from a strip 5 made of paper material, preferably cardboard, delimited by two longitudinal edges 6 and 7, preferably rectilinear, of equal length and mutually parallel, joined to each other at the ends by a first transverse edge 8 (visible on the left in figure 3), preferably rectilinear and arranged orthogonal to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7, and by a second transverse edge 9 (visible on the right in figure 3), preferably mixtilinear. In particular, the second transverse edge 9 preferably comprises two rectilinear sections 10 and 11 joined to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7 at a respective first end 12 and 13, and joined to a flap 14 at a respective second end 15 and 16. The rectilinear sections 10 and 11 are preferably incident and are arranged such that the second ends 15 and 16 are situated at a greater distance from the first transverse edge 8 than the first ends 12 and 13. The flap 14 is preferably semicircular, with the concavity facing towards the first transverse edge 8. The strip 5 is symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis arranged parallel to the longitudinal edg- es 6 and 7.

The strip 5 comprises two transverse fold lines 20 and 21 preferably arranged orthogonal to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7. The fold lines 20 and 21 divide the strip 5 into three sections 22, 23 and 24 indicated hereinbelow in the present description with the word "sheet". The sheet 22 (comprised between the first transverse edge 8 and the fold line 20) and the sheet 23 (comprised between the fold lines 20 and 21) are preferably rectangular and of equal size. The sheet 24 (comprised between the fold line 21 and the second transverse edge 9) has a smaller surface area than that of the sheets 22 and 23.

The strip 5 has a thickness preferably comprised between 0.12 mm and 3 mm, and still more preferably is 0.225 mm. The basis weight of the cardboard is therefore preferably comprised between 150 g/m ² and 450 g/m ² , and still more preferably is 200 g/m ² . The sheets 22 and 23 have a length and a width preferably not smaller than the diameter of the disc-like storage medium to be housed in the casing 1. With reference to the present embodiment, the sheets 22 and 23 have a length and a width preferably not smaller than the diameter of the Compact Disc 2, i.e. 120 mm. Preferably, the distance between the fold line 21 and the ends 12 and 13 of the rectilinear sections 10 and 11 of the second transverse edge 9 is nearly 3/10 the distance between the fold lines 20 and 21. Preferably, the distance between the fold line 21 and the most external point of the flap 14 is nearly 1/2 the distance between the fold lines 20 and 21.

The fold line 21 is interrupted, preferably at the centre, by a rectilinear slot 30 obtained by cutting the fold line 21 for a section of length preferably comprised between 3/12 and 7/12 of the diameter of the disc-like storage medium to be _, housed in the casing 1 . With reference to the present embodiment, the rectilinear slot 30 has a length preferably comprised between 30 mm and 70 mm. Still more preferably, the length of the rectilinear slot 30 is equal to 5/12 of the diam- eter of the disc-like storage medium to be housed in the casing 1. With reference to the present embodiment, the slot 30 has a length of 50 mm. The two ends of the rectilinear slot 30 are indicated in the figures with the reference numbers 31 and 32.

The sheet 23 has a curvilinear slot 33 obtained by cutting the sheet 23 in prox- imity to the fold line 20. The curvilinear slot 33 preferably has the progression of an arc of circumference whose ends 34 and 35 are preferably aligned parallel to the fold line 20. The distance between the ends 34 and 35 is preferably equal to the length of the slot 30. Incidentally, given that the strip 5 is symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis, the end 34 is situated at a distance from the longi- tudinal edge 6 that is equal to the distance of the end 35 from the longitudinal edge 7. In addition, the ends 31 and 34, along with the ends 32 and 35, are respectively aligned parallel to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7. The curvilinear slot 33 identifies, in the sheet 23, a first tab 36 that is extended from the curvilinear slot 33 towards the fold line 20. The maximum distance between a point of the slot 33 and a line passing through the ends 34 and 35 (i.e. the width of the tab 36) is preferably comprised between 1/30 and 1/10 of the diameter of the disc-like storage medium to be housed in the casing 1. With reference to the present embodiment, the tab 36 has a width preferably comprised between 4 mm and 12 mm. Still more preferably, the width of the tab 36 is equal to 1/20 of the diameter of the disc-like storage medium to be housed in the casing 1. With reference to the present embodiment, the tab 36 has a width of 6 mm.

In order to obtain the casing 1 visible in figure 1 starting from the strip 5 visible in figure 3, it is necessary to carry out the following operations:

a) folding the strip 5 along the fold line 20 such that the sheet 22 and the sheet 23 are opposite each other. With reference to figures 1 and 2, at the end of this operation the sheet 23 is superimposed on sheet 22;

b) mutually connecting the sheets 22 and 23 along the longitudinal edges 6 and 7 (for example by interposing, between the sheets 22 and 23, an adhesive substance layer in proximity to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7);

c) folding the strip 5 along the fold line 21 in a manner so as to superimpose the sheet 24 on the sheet 23 on the opposite side with respect to the sheet 22; d) mutually connecting the sheets 23 and 24 along the longitudinal edges 6 and 7 (e.g. analogous to that stated in step c), by interposing, between the sheets 22 and 23, an adhesive substance layer in proximity to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7).

As can be observed in figure 2, the lower face of the Compact Disc 2, when the latter is housed in the casing 1 , is in contact with the sheet 23 on the opposite side with respect to the sheet 22. In particular, the lower face of the Compact Disc 2 is superimposed on a portion of the sheet 23 indicated in figure 3 with the reference number 40. The sheet 23 therefore acts as a housing seat for the Compact Disc 2. If the sheets 23 and 24 are mutually superimposed, the Compact Disc 2 is partly interposed between the sheets 23 and 24 and traverses the rectilinear slot 30, thus slightly projecting outward from the casing 1. The sheet 24 therefore acts as a second tab of the casing 1. The Compact Disc 2 also traverses the curvilinear slot 33 such that a portion 41 (visible in figure 2) of the Compact Disc 2 is interposed between the sheets 22 and 23. This constitutes a protection for the lower face of the Compact Disc 2 at the portion 41 , if the lower face is not opposite the sheet 23. The distance between the opposite ends of the two slots 30 and 33 (i.e. the distance between the ends 31 and 34, and the distance between the ends 32 and 35) is such that the Compact Disc 2, when housed in the casing 1 , is in contact with the ends 31 , 32 and 34, 35 respectively with the tabs 24 and 36 at the lateral edge 4 thereof. In such a manner, the Compact Disc 2 is integrally connected to the casing 1.

In a first alternative embodiment of the casing 1 , the latter lacks the sheet 22. In a second alternative embodiment of the casing 1 , the latter lacks the sheets 22 and 24 and the second tab is made by cutting the sheet 23, so as to obtain a second slot, preferably symmetrical to the slot 33 with respect to a transverse symmetry axis (i.e. orthogonal to the longitudinal edges 6 and 7) of the sheet 23.

On the basis of the description provided for a preferred embodiment, it is clear that some changes can be introduced by the man skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. By way of example, intending as "width" of the strip 5 the length of the fold lines 20 and 21 and of the first transverse edge 8, by suitably increasing the width of the strip 5 and reproducing the slots 30 and 33 on the sheet 23 multiple times in transverse direction (i.e. parallel to the fold lines 20 and 21 ), it is possible to obtain a casing in which multiple disc-like storage media can be housed without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.