CA2316096A1

CA2316096A1 - Loose-leaf compact disc pocket hanger

Info

Publication number: CA2316096A1
Application number: CA002316096A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Chih Chiang Hsu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-08-09
Filing date: 2000-08-10
Publication date: 2002-02-10
Also published as: DE20015262U1; GB0019608D0; GB2365820A

Abstract

A loose-leaf compact disk (CD) pocket hanger for storing a large quantity of compact disks within a limited space is provided. The loose-leaf CD pocket hanger each includes a plurality of orderly overlapped CD pockets being heat-sealed onto a supporting plate that is in turn connected to a supporting bar adapted to be supported on and hung between two rails. The CD pocket hanger is provided with indexing means and the CD pockets can be easily turned up to facilitate quick locating and accessing of a desired compact disk from a plurality of the CD pocket hangers. A user may purchase any quantity of the CD pocket hangers depending on actual need.

Description

LOOSE-LEAF COMPACT DISC POCKET HANGER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a means for storing compact disks, and more particularly to a means-in the form of a loose-leaf compact disk pocket hanger for storing a large quantity of compact disks, so that a desired compact disk could be quickly located and accessed from a plurality of such hangers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With the rapid development in the information industry, compact disks, video compact disks, digital versatile disks, etc. have been widely used to store digital data of multiple media, such as music, images, games, etc. to facilitate quick access of such data. There are also a variety of means developed to store such compact disks.
However, for many individuals and companies or other large-scaled organizations that collect or use a large quantity of compact disks and frequently need to locate a desired compact disk from the numerous compact disks, these currently commercially available means for storing compact disks do not facilitate frequent and convenient locating and accessing of a desired compact disk therefrom.
There are prior patents disclosing means for storing compact disks. These patented means for storing compact disks, however, have the following common disadvantages in their designs:
1. Most of the conventional compact disk containers are designed to contain only a very small quantity of compact disks in each container, usually 8 or 10 pieces.
This design simply could not satisfy users who need a space to store a large quantity of compact disks.

2. Most of the conventional compact disk racks are designed to provide an independent space for each one single compact disk case that has only one compact disk stored therein. Therefore, such compact disk racks occupy considerably large room and are not easily moved.

3. There are compact disk albums designed for each storing up to 48 or even 96 pieces of compact disks therein.
Such compact disk albums are not provided with indexing means . Users need to take a lot of time to check many albums one by one until a desired compact disk is located.

4. For a CD-ROM cabinet that is capable of automatically accessing a desired compact disk from 300 or 600 pieces of compact disks, it is too expensive to be widely accepted by most consumers and small to middle scaled business entities.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a loose-leaf compact disk pocket hanger that can be easily used to hold increased quantity of compact disks in each one hanger that occupies only a very small space and is provided with indexing means for conveniently locating a desired compact disk from a plurality of such hangers.
SUNINIARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary obj ect of the present invention is to provide a loose-leaf compact disk (CD) pocket hanger that allows significantly increased quantity of compact disks to be stored in a very small space and is provided with indexing means to facilitate convenient locating of a desired compact disk from a large amount of compact disks.
To achieve the above and other objects, the loose-leaf CD pocket hanger of the present invention each includes a plurality of orderly overlapped CD pockets being heat-sealed onto a supporting plate that is in turn connected to a supporting bar adapted to be supported on and hang between two rails. The CD pocket hanger is provided with indexing means and the CD pockets can be easily turned up to facilitate quick locating and accessing of a desired compact disk from a plurality of the CD pocket hangers . A user may purchase any quantity of the CD pocket hanger depending on actual need.
The following are some of the important advantages of the loose-leaf compact disk pocket hanger of the present invention:

1. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the loose-leaf compact disk pocket hangers is in the form of a thin member and is adapted to store 24 pieces of compact disks. It is estimated that about 38 compact disk pocket ha'n.gers could-be hung in a drawer of a general desk. That is, about 912 pieces of compact disks could be store in one drawer.
It is envisioned that a future digital compact disk library would require an area less than 20 square meters to store about two hundred thousands of compact disks. That is, the loose-leaf compact disk pocket hanger of the present invention may be used either by an individual, a family, a big-scaled enterprise or a governmental organization to satisfy different levels of requirements.
2. The loose-leaf compact disk pocket hanger can be produced at low cost, and the indexing means provided thereon allows quick and correct locating of a desired compact disk from a very large quantity of stored compact disks . Since the supporting bar is designed to be supported on two rails or similar structures for the compact disk pockets to hang from the supporting bar, a plurality of such hangers may be sequentially hung between the rails or similar structures as many independent pages in a loose-leaf binder..
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other obj ects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective of the present invention viewing from one side thereof;
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective of the present invention viewing from another side thereof;
Fig. 3 is an assembled perspective of the present invention exemplifying the use thereof;
Fig. 4 is an assembled perspective of the present invention; and Fig. 5 shows the present invention could be sold, for example, in packs of five.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Please refer to Figs. 1 and 2 that are two exploded perspectives of a compact disk (CD) pocket hanger according to the present invention viewing from two different sides thereof . As shown, the CD pocket hanger each mainly includes a supporting bar 1, a supporting plate 2, a plurality of CD pockets 3, and two plastic sheets 24a, 24b. Each of the CD pockets 3 is adapted to receive at least one standard CD 4 therein.
The supporting bar 1 is a transverse bar being provided at a top middle point with an index holder 11. The index holder 11 is generally rectangular in shape and has front and rear sides defining a narrow hollow space therebetween for removably receiving an indexing slip therein. Two ends of the rear side of the index holder 11 are partially cut away to form two semicircular cuts to facilitate convenient insertion or removal of an indexing slip into or from the index holder 11. Two outer ends of the supporting bar 1 are separately provided with a generally right-angled hook 12, so that the CD pocket hanger of the present invention may be conveniently supported on and hang between two side rails or similar structures (not shown) provided in, for example, a drawer or a cabinet by resting the right-angled hooks 12 on the two rails or similar structures.
~0 The supporting plate 2 is a thin base generally rectangular in shape. An upper edge of the supporting plate 2 is connected to a lower edge of the supporting bar 1 by heat-sealing. The CD pockets 3 are heat-sealed onto two side surfaces of the supporting plate 2 in a manner that will be described in details later.
The_ CD pocket 3 each includes a middle partition 31 and two protective covers 32a, 32b that are separately connected at two lateral edges and a lower edge to three corresponding edges of two side surfaces of the middle partition 31 by heat-sealing, so that a continuous heat-sealed joint 34 is formed along three edges of the CD pocket 3. A V-shaped cut 33 large enough to facilitate position and removal of the standard CD 4 into and from the pocket 3 is provided at an upper edge of the two protective covers 32a, 32b. With these arrangements, each CD pocket 3 is provided at front xnd rear surfaces with two spaces for a standard CD 4 each.
The plastic sheets 24a, 24b are preferably made of a clear material for loosely covering outer sides of the CD
pockets 3 connected to front and rear surfaces of the supporting plate 2. The plastic sheets 24a, 24b are provided at predetermined positions with suitable numerals or letters or any other suitable marks to indicate sequences of the CD pockets 3.
Please now refer to Fig. 3. The thin and rectangular supporting plate 2 is connected at an upper edge to a lower edge of the supporting bar 1 by heat-sealing, as mentioned above, so that a heat-sealed joint 21 is formed between the supporting plate 2 and the supporting bar 1. In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, there are six CD pockets 3 connected to each side surface of the supporting plate 2. To do so, first attach three pockets 3 to predetermined positions on one side surface of the supporting plate 2, preferably near a lower part thereof and, for example, from left to right, such that these three pockets 3 sequentially overlap one another.
Then, heat-seal upper edges of the middle partitions 31 of the overlapped three CD pockets 3 above the V-cuts 33 to the supporting plate 2, so that a heat-sealed joint 23 is formed between the overlapped CD pockets 3 and the supporting plate 2. Similarly, attach another three CD
pockets 3 to predetermined positions on the same side surface of the supporting plate 2 properly above the first three CD pockets 3 and heat-seal them onto the supporting plate 2 in the same manner as described above, so that another heat-sealed joint 22 is formed between the pockets 3 and the supporting plate 2. At this point, the three CD pockets 3 attached to the upper part of the supporting plate 2 have lower portions overlapping upper portions of the first three CD pockets 3 attached to the lower part of the supporting plate 2.
Repeat the above procedures to attach another six CD
pockets 3 to another side surface of the supporting plate 2. By now, there are total twelve CD pockets 3 attached to the supporting plate 2 and total twenty-four CDs 4 could be separately received in the spaces provided at two sides of the middle partitions 31 of the twelve CD pockets 3 on the same one supporting plate 2.
The plastic sheets 24a, 24b are connected at upper long edges to the supporting bar 1 along with and at two sides of the supporting plate 2 by heat-sealing, so that the heat-sealed j oint 21 is also formed between the supporting bar 1 and the plastic sheets 24a, 24b. The plastic sheets 24a, 24b loosely and protectively cover outer sides of the CD pockets 3 at two sides of the supporting plates s 2.
Fig. 4 is an assembled perspective of the CD pocket hanger of the present invention. A most important feature of the CD pocket hanger of the present invention is it could be supported on and hung between two'suitably provided rails or similar structures. A user .may purchase any desired number of the CD pocket hanger depending on actual need.
Fig. 5 exemplifies multiple (five are illustrated in the drawing) CD pocket hangers are packed together for selling.
In this case, the supporting bars 1 and the plastic sheets 24a, 24b of the CD pocket hangers in one pack could have different colors to conveniently distinguish them from one another. And, the index holders 11 on the supporting bars 1 in the same pack may be differently located from left to right to avoid undesired blocking of any of the index holder 11 by other ones. This would facilitate easy search of a desired CD from the multiple CD pockets on different CD pocket hangers.
The CD pocket hanger of the present invention enables not only easy storage of a large quantity of CDs within a minimized space, but also easy search and locating of any desired CD from a large quantity of CDs. The CD pocket . hanger of the present invention also has the advantages of being easily portable and having reduced manufacturing cost . Moreover, the user may conveniently select to hang the CD pocket hangers in a limited closed space or in an open space, completely depending on personal need. The CD pocket hanger of the present invention therefore eliminates drawbacks existing in the conventional CD
storing means and is very practical for use.
The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood-that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A compact disk pocket hanger designed for storing a large quantity of compact disks within a limited space, comprising:
a supporting bar being provided at two ends with hooking means that are adapted to engage with two rails or similar structures to support said supporting bar on said rails or said structures; and a plurality of compact disk pockets for each receiving at least one compact disk and the like therein; and said compact disk pocket hanger being characterized in that said compact disk pockets are sequentially positioned and connected to a lower side of said supporting bar, such that said compact pockets hang from said supporting bar between said two rails or similar structures and could be individually turned up when necessary.

2. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a supporting plate that is connected to and hung from the lower side of said supporting bar, and said compact disk pockets being sequentially attached to a front surface of said supporting plate.

3. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein said compact disk pockets are also sequentially attached to a rear surface of said supporting plate.

4. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said compact disk pockets includes a middle partition and a first protective cover being heat-sealed along two lateral edges and a lower edge to a front surface of said middle partition, such that a first top opening is provided on said compact disk pocket to allow positioning or removal of a compact disk into or from said pocket via said first top opening.

5. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said compact disk pocket further includes a second protective cover being heat-sealed along two lateral edges and a lower edge to a rear surface of said middle partition, such that a second top opening is provided on each of said compact disk pockets to allow positioning or removal of a compact disk into or from said pocket via said second top opening.

6. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting bar is provided at an upper side with an index holder for removably receiving an indexing slip or the like therein.

7. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said compact disk pockets connected to said supporting bar are arranged in at least two horizontal rows with said compact disk pockets in each horizontal row overlapping one another and said compact disk pockets in an upper row overlapping said compact disk pockets in a lower row.

8. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claims 1, 2 and 3, further comprising two plastic sheets heat-sealed at upper edges to said supporting bar, such that said plastic sheets hang from said supporting bar to separately loosely cover outer sides of said compact disk pockets connected to and hung from said supporting bar.

9. A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein said plastic sheets are made of a clear material and provided at predetermined positions with numerals, letters or other suitable marks to indicate sequences of said compact disk pockets located below and covered by said plastic sheets.

10.A compact disk pocket hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein said plastic sheets are in the same color as that of said supporting bar.