File folder and method of manufacture

A file folder and fastener combination wherein the folder has a major flap along one edge of the folder and a pair of spaced, colinearly aligned, elongated minor flaps formed in said folder or major flap and separated by a medial portion of the folder or major flap. The fastener has a central body portion overlying one surface of the medial portion of the folder or major flap. Elongated prongs extend from opposite ends of the central body portion of the fastener and overlie the minor flaps of the folder or major flap on the opposite surface of the folder or major flap from the surface upon which the central portion of the fastener is located. The major flap of the folder is folded against the folder and secured thereto so as to sandwich the central portion of the fastener between the folder and the major flap. Alternatively, instead of a major flap formed on one edge of the folder, the central body portion of the fastener may be covered by a separate strip of material.

This application is related to and discloses a variation of the invention 
disclosed in the assignee's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 
07/215,604, filed July 6, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,097. 
This invention relates to file folders and, more particularly, to file 
folders of the type which have metal fasteners connected thereto for 
securing loose papers to the file folders. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Cardboard files or file folders are commonly used in combination with metal 
fasteners for securing loose papers to or within the folder. Generally, 
such fasteners comprise an elongated central body with elongated prongs 
extending from opposite ends of the central body. These fasteners are 
generally supplied to consumers either separately from the cardboard 
folders, or, alternatively, with the fastener attached to the file folder. 
In either event, in order to assemble the fastener to the file folder, it 
is necessary to bend the prongs into a position normal or perpendicular to 
the elongated body, and then push the prongs through slots in the folder 
so that the body of the fastener is located on the outside of the file 
with the prongs extending into the inside of the folder. The prongs are 
then bent down against the insider surface of the file folder so as to 
secure the fastener to the file and facilitate closure of the folder. 
One shortcoming of file folders and fasteners of the type wherein the 
fastener is attached to the folder prior to sale of the folder to the 
consumer is that assembly of the fastener to the folder is expensive and 
requires expensive equipment to effect the assembly. The expense is 
primarily attributable to the necessity to form the fastener as a flat 
sheet of material, to bend it so that the prongs of the fastener are 
located normal to the central body portion of the fastener, to push the 
prongs of the fastener from the outside of the folder through slots or 
openings in the folder and to then bend the prongs of the fastener down 
against the inside of the folder. 
It has therefore been one objective of this invention to provide a new and 
improved file folder and fastener combination which may be manufactured 
and assembled much less expensively than heretofore possible. 
Another objective of this invention has been to provide a new and improved 
file folder and fastener combination in which the fastener may be attached 
to the folder without the necessity to bend the end prongs of the fastener 
normal to the central body portion of the fastener in order to effect the 
attachment. 
Another problem characteristic of all file folder and fastener combinations 
is that the central body portion of the fastener which is located on the 
outside or exposed side of a file folder tends to catch or hang up on 
adjacent file folders when multiple file folders are filed in a filing 
cabinet. This results in damage to the files and inconvenience in filing 
multiple files. 
It has therefore been another objective of this invention to provide an 
improved file folder and fastener combination which avoids the problem of 
the central portion of a fastener hanging up on and damaging adjacent 
files contained in a common file cabinet. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The file folder and fastener combination of this invention which achieves 
these objectives comprises a folder having a major flap along the top or 
side of the folder and a pair of spaced, colinearly aligned, elongated 
minor flaps formed in the major flap and separated by a medial portion of 
the major flap. A fastener having a central body portion and a pair of 
opposed elongated prongs extending from opposite ends of the central body 
portion is mounted on the major flap with the central body portion of the 
fastener overlying the inside surface of the medial portion of the major 
flap with the prongs of the fastener overlying the outside surface of the 
minor flaps of the folder. The fastener is secured to the folder by 
folding and securing the inside surface of the major flap against the 
inside surface of the folder such that the medial portion of the fastener 
is sandwiched between the inside surface of the folder and the inside 
surface of the major flap with the prongs of the fastener resting against 
the outside surface of the minor flaps. The inside surface of the major 
flap is preferably secured to the inside surface of the folder by adhering 
the inside surfaces of the minor flap and inside surfaces of the major 
flap to the inside surface of the folder. 
As an alternative to mounting the fastener on the flap and then securing 
the inside surface of the flap to the inside surface of the folder with 
the medial portion of the fastener sandwiched therebetween, the fastener 
may be mounted on the folder with the outside surface of the folder 
secured to the outside surface of the flap and the medial portion of the 
fastener sandwiched therebetween. In that event, the folder would have a 
major flap along the top or side of the folder and a pair of spaced, 
colinearly aligned, elongated minor flaps formed in the folder adjacent 
the major flap. The fastener having a central body portion and a pair of 
opposed elongated prongs extending from opposite ends of the central body 
portion is mounted upon the folder with the central body portion of the 
fastener overlying the outside surface of the medial portion of the folder 
and with the prongs of the fastener overlying the inside surface of the 
minor flaps of the folder. The fastener is secured to the folder by 
folding and securing the outside surface of the major flap against the 
outside surface of the folder such that the medial portion of the fastener 
is sandwiched between the outside surface of the folder and the outside 
surface of the major flap and the prongs of the fastener rest against the 
inside surface of the minor flaps. In this alternative embodiment, the 
outside surface of the folder is preferably secured to the outside surface 
of the major flap by adhesive. 
Irrespective of whether the fastener is attached to the folder or to a flap 
of the folder, the novel fastener and folder combination of this invention 
lends itself to a novel method of assembling the fastener and folder and 
securing the fastener to the folder. This method is substantially less 
expensive than prior methods of manufacturing and assemblying folders and 
fasteners. 
According to the practice of this method, the spaced, colinearly aligned, 
elongated minor flaps are scored in either the folder or the major flap 
and folded from the plane of the folder or flap from which the minor flap 
is formed. The fastener, with its prongs displaced slightly from the plane 
of the medial portion, is then moved generally parallel to the surface of 
the folder or flap until the prongs of the fastener enter the opening 
between the minor flaps and the major flap or folder from which the minor 
flaps are scored and folded. During this movement of the fastener relative 
to the major flap or folder, the central portion of the fastener is 
positioned over the medial portion of the major flap or folder. So 
positioned, the fastener may be permanently sandwiched between the major 
flap and folder by folding the flap against the folder and securing the 
two together with the medial portion of the fastener secured therebetween. 
The primary advantage of this method of assembling the fasteners and 
folders is that it may all be accomplished mechanically with relatively 
simple and inexpensive machinery. 
The invention of this application eliminates the need for bending of the 
end prongs of the fastener normal to the central or medial portion of the 
fastener in order to effect assembly of the fastener to the folder. 
Consequently, there is a substantial savings in the cost of manufacturing 
and assembling the folder and fastener.

With reference first to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, there is illustrated a 
file folder 10 embodying the invention of this application. The file 
folder 10 comprises a sheet of cardboard or other flexible file folder 
sheet material which is folded along a fold line 14 to form two panels 16 
and 18. One of these panels 16 has a major flap 20 extending from the top 
edge of the panel and connected thereto by a horizontal fold line 22. 
In accordance with the practice of this invention, the major flap 20 has a 
pair of colinearly aligned, spaced, elongated minor flaps 24, 26 formed 
therein and separated by a medial portion 28 of the major flap. With 
particular reference to FIG. 2, it will be seen that each minor flap is 
formed by a generally U-shaped score line 24', 26' and by a horizontal 
fold line 24", 26". The score lines 24", 26" connect the minor flaps 24, 
26 to the major flap 20 while permitting the minor flaps to flex or fold 
about the fold lines. 
The file folder of this invention is completed by a metal fastener 30. This 
fastener has a central body portion 32 and a pair of end prongs 34, 36 
extending from opposite ends of the elongated central body portion 32. 
In order to assemble the fastener 30 to the folder 10, the minor flaps 24, 
26 are folded inwardly toward the inside surface 40 of the folder. 
Thereby, open slots 44, 46 are defined between the inwardly folded flaps 
and the inside surface 40 of the major flap. The prongs 34, 36 of the 
fastener 30 are then bent or angled inwardly at a slight angle, as for 
example, 10.degree., relative to the central body portion 32 of the 
fastener. With the flaps so folded and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the 
prongs 34, 36 of the fastener so bent, the fastener may be moved 
vertically downwardly, as indicated by the arrows 50, to insert the prongs 
34, 36 of the fastener into the slots 44, 46. The central body portion 32 
of the fastener is thereby located over and in juxtaposition to the medial 
portion 28 of the folder. A bead of adhesive 52 is then applied to the 
minor flaps and the end portion of the major flap outwardly of the minor 
flaps. Generally, this bead of adhesive will be a hot-melt adhesive. After 
placement of the bead of adhesive 52 (FIG. 1) on the minor flaps and the 
major flap, the major flap is folded inwardly and downwardly about the 
fold line 22 so as to position and secure the inside surface 40 of the 
flap to the inside surface of the folder panel 16. With the flap so 
positioned and secured, the central body portion 32 of the fastener 30 is 
secured and sandwiched between the inside surface 40 of the major flap 20 
and the inside surface of the folder panel 16. The end prongs 34, 36 of 
the fastener are then exposed to the inside surface of the folder such 
that the prongs may be folded upwardly normal to the surface of the folder 
for placement of punched papers over the prongs. After placement of papers 
or other items to be filed in the folder over the prongs, the prongs may 
be bent downwardly against the inside surface of the folder so as to 
secure the papers or other materials within the folder. 
With reference now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 there is illustrated a second 
embodiment of this invention. This embodiment is generally identical to 
the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, except that the colinearly aligned, spaced 
minor flaps 124, 126 are located in the panel 116 of the folder adjacent 
to the fold line 122, rather than being located in the major flap. The 
major flap in this embodiment has no minor flaps formed therein. The 
fastener 130 of this embodiment is inserted into the slots 144, 146 
defined between the minor flaps and the outside surface 142 of the folder 
panel 116 with the central portion 132 of the fastener 130 located over 
and in juxtaposition to the outside surface of the medial portion 128 of 
the folder panel 116. The major flap 120 of the folder is then folded 
outwardly and downwardly over the outside surface 142 of the panel 116 so 
as to secure and sandwich the central body portion 132 of the fastener 130 
between the outside surface 142 of the major flap 120 and the outside 
surface of the panel 116 of the folder 110. As in the case of the 
embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, a bead of adhesive 152 is applied to the minor 
flaps 124, 126 and to the folder panel 116 outboard of the minor flaps 
124, 126 so as to secure the outside surface 140 of the major flap 120 to 
the outside surface of the panel 16 of the folder 110. 
With reference now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated still a third embodiment 
of this invention. This embodiment is identical to the embodiment of FIGS. 
1-3 except that the minor flaps 224, 226 are formed in a separate strip 
220 of folder material, rather than in a major flap attached to the 
folder. This separate strip, then, after placement of the fastener 230 
within the slots 244, 246 defined by the outwardly folded minor flaps 224, 
226 is adhered to the inside surface 240 of the panel 216 of the folder in 
the same fashion that the major flap was adhered to the inside surface of 
the panel 16 of the folder in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. 
The novel folder of this invention has many advantages over prior art 
folders and fastener combinations. Among those advantages is the 
capability of being machine manufactured and assembled with relatively 
inexpensive equipment. This file folder also minimizes materials utilized 
to create a folder and fastener combination in which the fastener is 
covered and not subject to becoming entangled with adjacent file folders 
when the folder is placed in a drawer with numerous other similar folders. 
While we have described only three preferred embodiments of the invention 
of this application, persons skilled in this art will appreciate still 
further changes and modifications which may be made without departing from 
the spirit of our invention. Therefore, we do not intend to be limited 
except by the scope of the following appended claims.