# The Anatomy of a CD case. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197 "2004-11-23T00:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/1 "2004-11-23T00:06:23Z")
What do you call the little clippy circle inside a CD case that grips the hole in the middle of the CD? Does it have a name? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/2 "2004-11-23T00:27:10Z")
The hub? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/3 "2004-11-23T00:36:30Z")
A “push hub,” to be precise. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/4 "2004-11-23T00:54:38Z")
I looked up several patents on compact disks and storage cases: 6,464,073 rosette 6,419,084 hub 6,036,008 hub 5,775,659 spindle 5,118,228 hub The consensus looks to be ‘hub’. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/5 "2004-11-23T05:06:22Z")
Funny; I had always heard these CD cases called “jewel cases” and assumed that the “hub” was the “jewel”. It’s a sort of radiant circle thing, after all. It’s difficult to google for why cd cases are called “jewel cases” 🙂 Ask Jeeves produced two sites which asked the question, but no answers were forthcoming. So I’d like to add a corollary question: Why “jewel cases”? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/6 "2004-11-23T05:16:04Z")
Partly because of their passing resemblance to an [actual jewel case](http://www.bridestreasures.com/ShopSite/media/Jewel%20case.JPG), in that they’re a hinged box designed to protect the contents from dust and scratches – but I suspect mostly because it _sounds_ prestigous. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/7 "2004-11-23T05:46:00Z")
I’ve always called it a spindle. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/8 "2004-11-23T06:06:13Z")
> [@AmbushBug](#): > > Ask Jeeves produced two sites which asked the question, but no answers were forthcoming. > > So I’d like to add a corollary question: Why “jewel cases”? Now there should be 3 sites. Try it again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/9 "2004-11-23T10:56:59Z")
Thanks for your replies. I think I’ll go with hub, or push hub. I asked because no-one seemed to know, yet it’s a device that is manufactured in the billions and so well known to millions… …except my mother. The other day I had to show her how they worked. She had almost managed to get all the way to the year 2005 without ever removing a compact disc from its case. But then I had to admit I had no idea what they were called. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-anatomy-of-a-cd-case/276197/10 "2004-11-23T17:23:12Z")
I always called it “That little fucking thing that always breaks off, rendering the jewel case virtually useless”