Device and method for packaging platelike information carriers

Abstract

A device for packaging substantially platelike information carriers, provided with a first and a second cover part, wherein at least one of the cover parts is provided with receiving means for engaging and locking at least one information carrier, which receiving means comprise at least two guide elements, which can guide and lock at least a portion of an outer edge of the information carrier, such that during use the information carrier can be slid into or under the guide elements, while the information carrier can be taken out of the package by sliding it approximately parallel to its surface and approximately parallel to the respective cover part.

1 . A device for packaging substantially platelike information carriers, provided with a first and a second cover part, wherein at least one of the cover parts is provided with receiving means for engaging and locking at least one information carrier, which receiving means comprise at least two guide elements, which can guide and lock at least a portion of an outer edge of the information carrier, such that during use the information carrier can be slid into or under the guide elements, while the information carrier can be taken out of the package by sliding it approximately parallel to its surface and approximately parallel to the respective cover part.  
     
     
         2 . A device according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one resilient element is provided, which, when an information carrier has been received in the device, engages against a longitudinal edge of the information carrier, while the information carrier can be taken out of the package by sliding it approximately parallel to its surface and approximately parallel to the respective cover part, while elastically deforming the at least one resilient element.  
     
     
         3 . A device according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the guide elements comprise rail-shaped elements, dimensioned and positioned such that an information carrier can be slid thereinto by at least a portion of its longitudinal edge, with a sliding fit or with minor clearance with respect to the dimensions of the information carrier.  
     
     
         4 . A device according to  claim 3 , arranged for receiving substantially circular, platelike information carriers such as CDs, wherein the rail-shaped elements are slightly curved, having a bend radius substantially corresponding to the radius of the information carriers to be received, and each include a circular segment, which rail-shaped elements are disposed approximately symmetrically with respect to a first axial line, along an imaginary circle approximately corresponding to the outer contour of the information carrier to be received, such that the information carrier is slidable into the rail-shaped elements from an infeed side and the possible displacement is limited by the rail-shaped elements.  
     
     
         5 . A device according to  claim 4 , wherein adjacent the infeed side at least one resilient element is provided for locking an information carrier in the rail-shaped elements, which resilient elements, when an information carrier has been received in the rail-shaped elements, are positioned on the side of a second axial line, extending at right angles to the first axial line, of the information carrier remote from the rail-shaped elements.  
     
     
         6 . A device according to  claim 5 , wherein the or each resilient element, when an information carrier has been received in the rail-shaped elements, lies at a small distance from or against the longitudinal edge of the information carrier, while the or each resilient element is at least substantially not deformed, such that substantially without stress the information carrier is locked and is substantially secured against movement in the receiving means.  
     
     
         7 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each cover part in which the receiving means are provided has such dimensions that at least one information carrier is positionable thereon in a free position, at least partly next to the receiving means, and is subsequently slidable along the cover part into the receiving means to a lock position.  
     
     
         8 . A device according to  claim 7 , wherein the or each respective cover part is at least partly provided with an upstanding longitudinal edge, while during use an information carrier is slidable within the longitudinal edge between the free position and the received position.  
     
     
         9 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the receiving means are designed such that an information carrier received therein has at least the greater part of its approximately flat outer side held in spaced relation from the cover parts, both in the open and in the closed condition of the device.  
     
     
         10 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover parts are mutually connected by a back, while at least one of the cover parts and preferably both cover parts are connected with the back through hinge means, the device being preferably manufactured by injection molding from plastic with integrally injection molded hinges (living hinges).  
     
     
         11 . A device according to  claim 10 , wherein the receiving means define a sliding direction for the information carrier for placing the information carrier in the receiving means or removing it therefrom, which sliding direction extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the back.  
     
     
         12 . A device according to  claim 10 , wherein the receiving means define a sliding direction for the information carrier for placing the information carrier in the receiving means or removing it therefrom, which sliding direction extends substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the back.  
     
     
         13 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the receiving means are arranged for receiving at least two information carriers on at least one of the cover parts, in particular approximately above each other.  
     
     
         14 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness of the device in closed position is less than 9 mm, in particular less than 8 mm.  
     
     
         15 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device has outside dimensions, at least at right angles to the thickness, which correspond approximately to the dimensions of a standard DVD box (about 135×190 mm).  
     
     
         16 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an information carrier is positionable in a first, free position on a cover part, wherein means are provided for supporting the information carrier on a part of at least one outer surface, located adjacent the outer longitudinal edge, in particular a part that is free of electronic information, such that the further respective outer surface is held in spaced relation from the cover part, while the information carrier is slidable to a lock position in the receiving means, without said outer surface coming into contact with said cover part.  
     
     
         17 . A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and the second cover part are provided with receiving means.  
     
     
         18 . An assembly of a device according to any one of the preceding claims and at least one information carrier.  
     
     
         19 . A method for filling a device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device in open position is presented to a filling apparatus, whereafter with the filling apparatus an information carrier is brought to a point above or against a cover part and is subsequently moved approximately parallel to its surface, along the respective cover part, into the receiving means arranged thereon.