Abstract:
The document access device which provides protection, storage and display of documents, such as on a worksite. The container has a flexible document containing portion, and a hanging bracket with an attached access flap. The access flap is configured to access to the flexible document container for insertion and removal of documents, and when released, the access flap closes to protect the documents from the elements. Attachment points are provided for hanging the device from a post, or attaching it to a flat surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to packaging displayed devices for enclosing documents, and more particularly to packaging display of real estate and construction related documents on a work site.  
         [0003]     2. Background Information  
         [0004]     Documents are often displayed in relation to real estate sales and construction sites. In the context of real estate sales, a document holder may be mounted from which informational flyers can be distributed. The flyers may be placed in a protective container, and people may retrieve them one at a time for the information displayed on them. Such a device is preferably inexpensive to make, easy to attach, has a waterproof lid, and a self-closing lid which protects the contents from the elements.  
         [0005]     There are a number of such devices which perform this function, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,643 to Scribner.  
         [0006]     Another situation in which documents need to be readily accessible, yet protected from the elements is at a construction site. At a construction site, the need for documents begins long before the building is built. A continuing succession of contractors and inspectors need to come to the site, identify that they are at the correct building site, and either access or leave documents related to the stage of building they are working on or inspecting. A construction site is more exposed to the elements than other placements of information holders, and a document holder at the site must be fairly dustproof and waterproof. There are a number of devices which accomplish this, but all of them have certain shortcomings and could be improved. An improved device would include a secure attachment of flexible bag in which the documents are contained. It would also include a structure which inherently allows a number of options in mounting or attaching the device. It would also provide an inexpensive structure which is easy to open, and which closes automatically, and is built so that the opening and closing does not wear out the structure before its intended use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     These and other objects are accomplished by a document access device of the invention. The document accessing device of the invention includes a flexible document container, which would typically be a plastic bag, sealed on three sides. The plastic can be any number of types of plastic, and is preferably made to block destructive radiation from the documents, such as ultra-violet radiation. This can be accomplished by selecting a plastic which has UV protection, or using a color which blocks UV rays. Another option is to use a flexible material that contains a metal, such as aluminum, and reflects light including destructive UV radiation, and thus protects documents inside the container from damage from the sun.  
         [0008]     The flexible document container of the invention is basically a plastic bag formed from joining a front side and a back side. The front side and the back side are joined along the two side edges and the bottom edge, and left open at the top. The back side is made to be longer than the front side, which forms an attachment flap which can be attached to other structures of the device for secure attachments. The edge of the front side which is not attached to the back side leaves an opening for insertion of documents into a pouch.  
         [0009]     The invention also includes a generally U-shaped hanging bracket to which the attachment flap of the flexible document container is attached. The generally U-shaped hanging bracket includes a front side and a back side which are typically formed from one piece of material, folded along the seam. The attachment flap of the flexible document container is inserted between the front and back side of the U-shaped hanging bracket, and the three layers are connected together. This can be by various means, including by mechanical means such as brads, rivets, grommets, nut and bolts, and the like, or by bonding means such as thermal bonding, chemical bonding or sonic bonding, or other types of bonding, all of which joins the three layers together. One type of bonding is by use of an industrial stapler. The U-shaped hanging bracket also includes a number of attachment points. These are structures which are provided for mounting the hanging bracket on the selected structure at the site. The attachment points can be grommets, hooks, or merely holes through the U-shaped hanging bracket. There are preferably three attachment points in the form of grommets. The central attachment point would be provided so that the document access device of the invention can be attached to a pole or stake by plastic tie straps. Of the three grommets, the two outer grommets are provided for such situations in which screws or nails are driven into a flat surface for mounting the document access device. In such a case the screws or nails would pass through the grommets forming any of the three attachment points to attach the device of the invention to a wall, a side of a building, a sign or to any other flat surface available for this purpose.  
         [0010]     Attached to the hanging bracket is an access flap which is attached to the lower edge of the front side of the hanging bracket. It is attached along a hinged seam between the lower edge of the front side and the upper edge of the access flap. The seam allows the access flap to be lifted up for accessing the documents contained within the flexible document container. The access flap is attached to the lower edge of the front side at a point below where the connection means secures the attachment flap between the front and back of the hanging bracket. The hinged seam is also located at a point above the opening of the pouch, so that when the access flap is rotated to an open position, the opening for insertion of documents is accessible below the hinged seam. The access flap is preferably constructed from the same piece of material that the front and back side of the U-shaped hanging bracket is constructed, and is created by a seam from side to side on the front side of the hanging bracket. This seam can be in the form of a series of small cuts which weakens the structure of the front side of the hanging bracket, and allows the access flap portion to fold along the hinged seam.  
         [0011]     Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.  
         [0012]     The purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.  
         [0013]     Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive in nature.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the document holder of the invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cut away side view of the document holder of the invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.  
         [0017]     The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the document access device or document holder  10  of the invention. It includes a flexible container  12  which is sealed on the side edges  18  and along the bottom edge  20 . The flexible container  12  is made up of a front piece  14  and a back piece  16 , which are joined along the side edges  18 . The back piece  14  of the flexible container  12  includes an attachment flap  26  which extends beyond the top edge of the front piece  22  of the device. The gap between the top edge  22  and the attachment flap  26  forms an opening  24  in which documents can be inserted. The flexible container  12  is enclosed within a hanging bracket  28 . The hanging bracket  28  is generally U shaped, and includes a back section  32  and a front section  30 . The front section  30  is attached at the lower edge  40  to an axis flap  38 . The axis flap  38  is attached to the lower edge  40  of the front section  30  by use of a hinge, or a seam in the material which forms a hinge seam  42  and allows the access flap  38  to be hinged away from the hanging bracket  28 . When the access flap  38  is lifted upward, the opening  24  for insertion of documents is exposed, and documents may be inserted into the flexible container  12 . The device includes a closure mechanism  44 , which preferably utilizes the shaped memory of the material of the device in order to return from an open position  60  as in  FIG. 2 , to a closed configuration as shown in  FIG. 1 , when the access flap  38  is released.  
         [0018]     The preferred material to use in construction of the hanging bracket  28  and the access flap  38  is a corrugated material made of plastic. Material with the brand Coreplast® has been found to be a good material for this purpose. Other corrugated plastic materials would also be suitable. Another construction detail which is very important is the direction in which the channels of the corrugated plastic run. An important part of this design is that the corrugation channels run vertically when the document access device  10  is mounted in place. This means that the corrugation channels run perpendicular to the hinged seam  42 , and also perpendicular to the bottom edge  20 , and parallel to the side edges  18 . This orientation of the corrugation channels is significant for several reasons. It allows the document access device  10  to be easily mounted with an H bracket  58 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . Also, the back section  32  is able to interact with an L bracket  56 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . By use of the channels in this way, one or more L brackets can be screwed into a suitable structure such as a post, and the device of the invention can be easily mounted on the L bracket  56 . Similarly, the H bracket can be pressed into the ground, and the top members of the H bracket can fit in to the channels  54  in the corrugation.  
         [0019]     The device also includes attachment means  34 , which could be a screw as shown in  FIG. 2 . Provided in the hanging bracket  28 , are grommets  50  through which the screw  34  can pass. Also provided in the hanging bracket  28  is a connection means  36  which bonds or secures three layers of material together. The connection means  36  bonds or secures the front section  30  and the back section  32 , and sandwiched between them is the attachment flap  26 . Having the attachment flap  26  extend into the U shaped hanging bracket  28  and having it be sandwiched and bonded to the front and back sections, results in the flexible container being much stronger and less susceptible to tearing off the structure. Tearing can be initiated by excessive weight of documents in the flexible container  12 , and it can also be initiated by wind flapping the flexible container around, and by users who apply force to the flexible container in the process of inserting documents into the opening  24 . The connection means is preferably an industrial stapler, but other connection means which would work include brads, grommets, heat fusing, sonic fusing, and other conventional connection devices.  
         [0020]     The flexible container can be made of a number of different kinds of flexible plastics, but it is preferred that a plastic is used which is resistant or impermeable to ultra violet radiation. This prevents documents from yellowing in the sun, and it also prevents the plastic of the flexible container  12  from becoming brittle and cracking before the intended life span of the product. A plastic that includes a metal such as aluminum is preferred to block UV radiation from entering the flexible container, and thus preventing the contents from deterioration from the sun.  
         [0021]     While there is shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that this invention is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.