Portfolio having multiple pockets

A portfolio for holding items such as sheets of paper is constructed a single sheet of translucent material having a scored line to act as a hinge and divided the material into front and back covers. The portfolio is provided with at least three pockets constructed of transparent material welded onto the portfolio. Two of the pockets are provided on the interior of the front and back covers for retaining sheets of paper, and a third pocket is provided on the exterior surface of the front cover for holding a sheet of material such as a cover label. The pockets may be provided with cutouts to allow expansion of the pockets and stress relief structures to prevent tearing of the pockets upon repeated insertion and removal of items from the pockets. The portfolio also includes a plurality of holes for attachment in a ringed binder and slits running from the holes to the hinge to permit insertion of the portfolio into the binder without opening the rings.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
 The present invention relates to portfolios capable of insertion into 
 three-ringed binders and having interior and exterior pockets for 
 retaining sheets of paper. 
 BACKGROUND 
 Portfolios have been provided with various arrangements of pocket to hold 
 sheets of paper. Generally, these portfolios have front and back covers 
 that are hinged together, and the pockets are disposed on the covers. 
 Papers from a presentation and or seminar are placed in the pockets. 
 Insertion and removal of paper from the pockets can cause the pockets to 
 wear or tear. Some pockets cannot accommodate large amounts of paper. In 
 addition, the printing from the papers can transfer to certain types of 
 portfolio material. 
 The need exists for a portfolio constructed of a material to which print 
 does not transfer that has multiple pockets that can accommodate 
 relatively large amounts of paper, can hold paper securely, are not 
 susceptible to tearing upon insertion and removal of the paper, and can be
 placed in larger binders to keep the papers from different but related 
 presentations or seminars together. 
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
 According to the present invention, a portfolio having multiple transparent
 pockets is provided that can hold sheets of paper and that can be stored 
 in a binder having fasteners such as a three-ringed type binder. The 
 portfolio is constructed from a single sheet of translucent or opaque, 
 colored material. A scored line divides the sheet of material into front 
 and back covers and serves as a hinge about which the covers can pivot 
 with respect to each other between an open and a closed position. The 
 portfolio is provided with at least three pockets constructed of 
 transparent material heat sealed onto the front and back covers. 
 Two of the pockets are preferably identical and are provided in a vertical 
 orientation on the interior of the front and back covers for retaining 
 sheets of paper, and a third pocket is provided on the exterior surface of
 the front cover for holding a sheet of material such as a cover label. The
 third pocket also has a vertical orientation, and paper is placed in the 
 overlay pocket by sliding it under the overlay material from an edge 
 adjacent to the portfolio hinge. The pockets may be provided with cutouts 
 to allow expansion of the pockets and stress relief structures to prevent 
 tearing of the pocket openings upon repeated insertion and removal of 
 items from the pockets. The portfolio also includes a plurality of holes 
 for attachment in a ringed binder and slits running from the holes to the 
 hinge to permit insertion of the portfolio into the binder without opening
 the rings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
 Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3, the portfolio 1 of the present invention 
 includes a front cover 3 and a back cover 5. The front and back covers are
 pivotally attached to each other along a hinge 7 so that the covers may 
 pivot or rotate about the hinge 7 with respect to one another between an 
 open position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and a closed position when the 
 front and back covers come into contact. The hinge 7 can be a single hinge
 such as a piano-type hinge or a plurality of discrete hinges and can 
 either be formed integral with the front and back covers or constructed of
 separate parts that are attached to the covers. Preferably, the front and 
 back covers are constructed from a single sheet of material, and the hinge
 7 is formed from a scored line that is made between the front and back 
 covers. Suitable materials for the covers include paper, cardboard, and 
 plastics either opaque, translucent, or transparent. The covers may be 
 white, black, or colored. Preferably, the covers are made of translucent 
 polypropylene. Polypropylene is preferred because the writing from paper 
 will not transfer to the polypropylene. 
 The portfolio may include structures that enable it to be inserted, 
 secured, and removed from binders having fasteners, such as three-ringed 
 type binders. Therefore, the font and back covers are sized to accommodate
 the size of the papers to held and the structures for insertion into a 
 binder. Suitable structures include a plurality of front cover holes 9 
 disposed in and passing through the front cover 3 and arranged to 
 accommodate the fastener pattern inside the binder. Likewise, a plurality 
 of back cover holes 11 are disposed in and pass through the back cover 5 
 and are arranged to align with the front cover holes 9 when the portfolio 
 1 is in the closed position. The front and back cover holes may also be 
 arranged in a universal pattern to accommodate any one of a number of 
 binder fastener patterns. Further, the holes may be either circular, 
 rectangular, or elongated such a ellipses or slots. 
 As is best shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of slits 13 are provided in the 
 front and back covers running from the hinge 7 to each one of the 
 plurality of front and back cover holes. These slits 13 permit the 
 insertion and removal of the portfolio 1 from a binder and the engagement 
 of the binder fasteners with the cover holes without having to open or 
 release the binder fasteners. Removal and insertion of the portfolio 1 may
 be aided by the provision of flared ends 15 of the slits; however, as is 
 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slits 13 can be provided without flared ends 
 15 and still permit the rapid insertion and removal of the portfolio 1 
 from a binder. To further accommodate the fastener mechanisms inside of a 
 binder and in particular the levers used to operate the rings in a 
 ring-type binder, a notch 17 is provided in the portfolio 1 on either end 
 of the hinge 7. As is shown in FIG. 5, the portfolio 1 may alternatively 
 be provided without the plurality of front and back cover holes. 
 Pockets are provided in the portfolio 1 for securing items such as sheets 
 of paper in the portfolio. Any arrangement and number of pockets may be 
 provided in the portfolio 1. Preferably, the front cover interior surface 
 21 includes at least one front cover pocket 23, and the back cover 
 interior surface 25 includes at least one back cover pocket 27. The front 
 cover pocket 21 is formed from a first sheet of material, and the back 
 cover pocket 25 is formed from a second sheet of material. The first and 
 second sheets of material may be circular, triangular, rectangular, or 
 square and may be made from opaque, translucent, or transparent material. 
 The first and second sheets of material may be any size up to the size of 
 the front and back cover interiors. A plurality of front and back cover 
 pockets may also be provided and can be arranged to overlap either 
 entirely or partially or may be completely independent of one another. 
 As is illustrated in FIG. 6, the first and second sheets of material are 
 preferably made of a rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 27. The 
 rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 27 can be any size up to the size
 of the front or back cover interior surface. The overlay pocket may cover 
 only a portion of the front or back cover and may be attached to the cover
 interior surfaces themselves or one or all of the cover edges. Preferably,
 the rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 27 only covers a portion of 
 the front or back cover interior surface. However, the rectangular sheet 
 of transparent plastic 27 should be of sufficient size to secure items 
 such as sheets of paper into the portfolio and to provide for the 
 attachment of the sheet to the front and back covers. Such attachment can 
 be accomplished by any conventional means including as staples, adhesives,
 ultrasonic welds, or heat. Preferably, the rectangular sheet of 
 transparent plastic 27 is attached to the front or back cover interior 
 surface by a plurality of discrete welds 29 running along three sides of 
 the sheet 27. The fourth side is not attached to the front or back cover 
 and forms a front cover pocket opening 31 and a back cover pocket opening 
 33. The fourth side may extend any distance across the cover from a length
 just far enough to hold the sheets of paper up to the width of the paper 
 itself. Preferably, the front and back cover pocket openings are parallel 
 to the hinge 7. This arrangement of the pockets holds the inserted papers 
 in the portfolio more securely. 
 Since items of varying size and varying amounts of paper may be inserted 
 into the front and back cover pockets, cutouts 35 are provided in the 
 rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 27 to permit expansion of the 
 pockets. As shown in FIG. 6, preferably two cutouts 35 are provided for 
 each sheet of pocket material. The cutouts 35 are preferably circular in 
 shape and disposed at the intersection of the three sides that are 
 attached to the front and back covers. In order to prevent the sheet of 
 material 27 and hence the front and back cover pockets from tearing upon 
 repeated insertion and removal of items, a stress relief structure 37 is 
 provided on either end of the front cover pocket opening 31 and the back 
 cover pocket opening 33. As is best shown in FIG. 7, the stress relief 
 structure 37 is generally curved in shaped with varying radii of 
 curvatures. The stress relief structure 37 permits the opening 31 to flex 
 to accommodate the insertion of items into the pocket while leaving the 
 pocket welds 29 unaffected. 
 In order to hold additional items, sheets of paper, or a label for the 
 portfolio 1, at least one overlay pocket 39 may be provided on either the 
 front cover exterior surface 41 or the back cover exterior surface 43. 
 However, the present invention covers portfolios that do not have any 
 exterior or overlay pockets, but instead only include a plurality of 
 interior pockets. Although a plurality of overlay pockets may be provided 
 on either one or both of the cover exteriors, preferably, one overlay 
 pocket 39 is provided on the front cover exterior surface 39. The overlay 
 pocket 39 is formed from a third sheet of material. The third sheet of 
 material may be circular, triangular, rectangular, or square and may be 
 made from opaque, translucent, or transparent material. The third sheet of
 material may be any size up to the size of the front cover. A plurality of
 front and back cover overlay pockets may also be provided and can be 
 arranged to overlap either entirely or partially or may be completely 
 independent of one another. 
 As is illustrated in FIG. 8, the third sheet of material is preferably made
 of a rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 45. The rectangular sheet of
 transparent plastic 45 can be any size up to the size of the front or back
 cover exterior surface. Preferably, the rectangular sheet of transparent 
 plastic 45 is sized to completely cover a sheet of inserted into the 
 pocket and to provide for the attachment of the sheet to the front and 
 back covers. Such attachment can be accomplished by any conventional means
 including staples, adhesives, ultrasonic welds, or heat. Preferably, the 
 rectangular sheet of transparent plastic 45 is attached to the front or 
 back cover interior surface by a plurality of discrete welds 47 running 
 along three sides of the sheet 45. The fourth side is not attached to the 
 front cover and forms an overlay pocket opening 49. Preferably, the front 
 and back cover pocket openings are parallel to the hinge 7, providing 
 easier insertion and removal of a sheet of paper. 
 Since items of varying size and varying amounts of paper may be inserted 
 into the overlay pocket, cutouts 51 are provided in the rectangular sheet 
 of transparent plastic 45 to permit expansion of the pockets. As shown in 
 FIG. 8, preferably two cutouts 51 are provided. The cutouts 51 are 
 preferably circular in shape and disposed at the intersection of the three
 sides that are attached to the front and back covers. In order to prevent 
 the sheet of material 45 and hence the front and back cover pockets from 
 tearing upon repeated insertion and removal of items, a stress relief 
 structure 53 is provided on either end of the overlay pocket opening 49. 
 As is best shown in FIG. 9, the stress relief structure 53 is generally 
 curved in shaped and has varying radii of curvatures. The stress relief 
 structure 53 permits the opening 49 to flex to accommodate the insertion 
 of items into the pocket while leaving the pocket welds 47 unaffected. 
 One of ordinary skill in the art can envision numerous variations and 
 modifications of the portfolio of the present invention. For example, 
 multiple overlay pockets can be provided on both the front and back 
 exterior covers and windowed pockets can be used for one or all of the 
 cover and overlay pockets. All of these modifications are contemplated by 
 the true spirit and scope of the following claims.