US3317038A

US3317038A - Container structure

Info

Publication number: US3317038A
Application number: US439839A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bade Werner; Alan N Seideman
Original assignee: PALLAM DEV CORP
Current assignee: PALLAM DEV CORP; PALLAM DEVELOPMENT CORP
Priority date: 1965-03-15
Filing date: 1965-03-15
Publication date: 1967-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 1984-05-02

Description

May 2, 1967 w. BADE ET AL CONTAINER STRUCTURE Filed March 15, 1965 INVENTORS WERNER BADE ALAN N. SEIDEMAN QAHATJV United States Patent 3,317,038 CONTAINER STRUCTURE Werner Bade, Bayside, and Alan N. Seideman, New York, N.Y., assignors to Pallam Development Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York 7 Filed Mar. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 439,839 Claims. (Cl. 206-62) The present invention relates to a container structure having particular application in the fabrication of phono graph record jackets and a method of making such containers. Although the invention will be described in this environment, it will be readily apparent that the principles and techniques of the invention have considerably broader application in the fabrication of different types of containers.

At the present time, phonograph record jackets are rather costly in their manufacture. primarily to the number of different components needed to construct the jacket, along with the, number of necessary steps involved in the manufacturing process. First, the back side of the jacket containing the printed history and other text material is bound to two sheets of precut cardboard so that the back edge ends up showing the title of the record. Next, the face picture which is printed and pre-cut is affixed to the jacket. To protect the printing against abrasion, many jackets are coated with a thin film of polyethylene. This is a hand fed operation. The jackets are then shipped to the record manufacturer who further protects the record with either a paper envelope or a polyethylene envelope or both, before inserting the records into the jackets.

it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved container structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved phonograph record jacket.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved phonograph record jacket which requires fewer components.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved phonograph record jacket which may be fabricated by simplified mass production techniques.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved container which is simple in construction and inexpensive to fabricate.

A container structure according to the present invention includes a plurality of panels of thermoplastic sheet material forming a container and having printed matter at prescribed locations on the inside surface of at least one of the panels. The container structureof the invention also includes foam material bonded to the inside surfaces of the panels.

For a better understanding of the present invention, to-

gether with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following descrition, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially cut-away, of a phonograph record jacket constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view, in perspective, of a blank for a phonograph record jacket constructed in accordance with the present invention; I

FIG. 3 is an edge view of the blank of FIG. 2, properly assembled, as the blank is being folded into the form of a phonograph record jacket;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the phonograph record jacket of FIG. 1 showing the disposition of a phonograph record therein; and

The expense is due FIG. 5 is a cross section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, a container constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of panels 11 and 12 of thermoplastic sheet material, such as polyethylene, vinyls, polystyrene, or comparable material. In the fabrication of a phonograph record jacket, the panels 11 and 12 are usually of square shape with the panel 11 serving, for example, as the front panel and panel 12 serving as the back panel. It is apparent that the panels may take various other shapes and configurations.

At least one of the panels, and often both of the panels, is provided with printed matter at prescribed locations on the inside surface. By the inside surface, it is meant that surface not serving as an outside surface after the container has been formed. The printed matter may be text material or it may be of an ornamental nature as shown in the drawing. The printed matter is so arranged as to be viewed from the outside of the container. Therefore, for text material, the printing must be the mirror image of the material as read so that it will appear in the proper manner when viewed from the outside. Although in most cases the thermoplastic sheet will be absolutely transparent so as to provide a clear and undistorted view of the printed matter on the inside surface, absolute transparency is not always required. In some cases, a translucent thermoplastic sheet may suffice or may, in fact, be preferred.

A container constructed in accordance with the present invention further includes a foam material v13 bonded to the inside surfaces of the panels 11 and 12. Foam material 13 may be polyurethane or a similar material. For the embodiment of the record jacket shown in the drawings, the foam material 13 covers substantially the entire inside surfaces of both the panels 11 and 12. The bonding the foam material 13 to the thermoplastic sheet may be effected by any of the conventional methods such as fusion or adhesion. The bonding may be carried out throughout the entire area over which the foam material 13 is' in contact with the thermoplastic sheet or it may be efiected only along the edges of both. .It should be pointed out that the foam material 1-3 need not cover substantially the entire surface of the thermoplastic sheet. Smaller pieces of foam material bonded to the thermoplastic sheet at specific locations may be preferred. One possible arrangement, for example, is to have one piece of foam material in each of the four corners of the jacket and a fifth piece in the center.

The preferred construction of a phonograph record jack-' et according to the present invention is to form both the front and back square panels 11 and 12 of a single thermoplastic sheet folded along the center line .14 of the sheet with two of the

remaining edges

15 and 16 of the folded structure being joined together by a heat seal. The foam material 13, also in the form of a layer, covers substantial ly the entire surface of the thermoplastic sheet to which it is bonded and is folded along the center line 17 of the foam layer. As is best brought out in FIG. 5, the area of the layer of foam material 13 is slightly smaller than the thermoplastic sheet so that the contiguous edges of the thermoplastic sheet of the folded structure may be heat sealed without any foam material interposed between these edges.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate how a phonograph record 18 is disposed within the phonograh record jacket constructed in accordance with the present invention. The record -18 may be slipped into the jacket or removed from the jacket through the fourth edge .19 which is kept open. When the phonograph record 18 is inserted into the jacket, the foam material 13 being sufficiently resilient yields, thereby providing a cushion for the record.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that a phonograph record jacket constructed according to the principles and techniques of the present invention achieves several desirable results. First, because the printing is done on a rigid thermoplastic sheet, the need for cardboard is eliminated. Since the printing is on the reverse side of the thermoplastic sheet there is no need for a protective coating or film. When a single thermoplastic sheet is used to form the entire jacket, printing on the front, back and edge can be done at one time. The thermoplastic sheet has such properties that it may be folded very easily by the application of heat and pressure into the form desired. This eliminates binding since the two remaining edges may be closed by heat sealing. The need for a record protector such as polyethylene or paper envelopes is eliminated due to the foam material lining the inside surfaces of the jacket. The foam material provides additional protective cushioning.

The preferred form of a phonograph record jacket according to the present invention may be fabricated by the following steps. First, a sheet of thermoplastic material is cut to the desired dimensions. Next, the desired text or ornamental design is printed on one surface of the thermoplastic sheet. A layer of foam material is then bonded or laminated to the thermoplastic sheet on the printed surface. The entire structure is then folded along the center line by heating the thermoplastic sheet along the center line and then bringing the two halves of the structure together. Heating renders the thermoplastic sheet sufficiently pliable for folding. Finally, the contiguous edges are heat sealed along two edges of the folded structure leaving the third edge of the folded structure open.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and it is, therefore, aimed to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A phonographic record jacket comprising: front and back panels of thermoplastic sheet material; a seal area along part of the edges of said panels, another part of the edges of said panels being open; and a sheet of foam material located between said panels with edge portions of said foam material sealed to said thermoplastic sheet material adjacent to said seal area, said seal area extending beyond the adjacent portion of the edge of said foam material whereby said panels are in direct sealing contact in said seal area.

2. The phonographic record jacket of claim 1 in which both said front and back panels are part of one piece of thermoplastic sheet material and are joined together along a fold line which comprises one common edge of both of said panels, said seal area comprising edge portions of said panels between said fold line and said open edge.

.3. The phonographic record jacket of claim 11 in which said thermoplastic sheet material is transparent and at least one of said panels comprises printed material on the inner surface thereof adjacent to said foam material.

4. The phonographic record jacket of claim 1 in which said front and back panels are substantially square and are joined directly together along three edges and said foam material comprises two substantially square portions joined together along three edges thereof contiguous with said three edges of said panels and open along fourth edges thereof, the fourth edges of said foam material being bonded to the fourth edges of said panels, respectively.

5. The method of making a phonograph record jacket comprising the steps of bonding edge portions of a layer of foam material to a sheet of thermoplastic material having sealing edges extending beyond said foam material; folding the resultant structure along a center line to bring two portions of said foam material into juxtaposition between two sections of said thermoplastic material, said sealing edges extending from said center line; and heat sealing s-aid sealing edges directly together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,847,390 3/1932 Finn 156- 277 2,302,179 11/11 942 'Bronfman 156277 X 2,962,158 11/ 1960 Struthers 206-46 2,998,129 8/ 196-1 Bekins 206-46 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,040,278 10/ 8 Germany.

779,108 7/ '1957 Great Britain.

584,862 11/ 1958 Italy.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.