Document wallet

Abstract: A blank for a document folder, the blank including a rear wall (11) forming panel foldably connected to a front wall forming panel (12), a pair of attachment panels (53, 54) located on opposed sides of the blank and being foldably connected to one of said wall forming panels, the other one of said wall forming panels and said attachment panels (53, 54) including co-operable latch means (56,57).

Description: The present invention relates to a folder, in particular a folder for the loose storage of documents. Folders for retaining loose documents are known but are usually in a preassembled condition when supplied to the user. Accordingly such folders take up a large amount of storage space which is undesirable particularly in an office where space is limited. In addition, for presentation purposes, it is desirable for folders to have a maximum of flat space on which printing may be performed. Accordingly the use of glue lines, rivet holes etc used in prior art constructions for assembling a folder are undesirable as such use restricts the available space for printing. The present invention aims to reduce the above drawbacks and also provide other advantages. It is known from DE-2258250 to provide a document folder for the long term shelf storage of documents. The folder disclosed in DE-2258250 includes a front wall spaced from a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall and is formed from a blank of a single sheet of material which is cut and provided with fold lines to define a first wall panel connected to a second wall panel by an intermediate bottom wall panel, the first and second wall panels in the erected folder defining either the front and rear walls or the rear and front walls of the folder respectively, a pair of side wall panels foldably connected to opposite sides of the second wall panel, and an attachment panel foldably connected to each side wall panel, each attachment panel in the erected folder residing in face to face contact with the first wall panel and being connected thereto by co-operable latch means, the cooperable latch means for connecting each attachment panel to the first wall panel comprising at least one tongue engageable with a co-operating tongue accommodating opening, the tongue being formed on the attachment panel and the co-operating opening being formed on the first wall panel respectively. The construction of the folder disclosed in DE-2258250 is not intended to be partially filled nor continually handled and so does not possess constructional features for this purpose. According to the present invention there is provided a blank for a folder including a front wall spaced from a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the blank being formed from a single sheet of material which is cut and provided with fold lines to define a first wall panel connected to a second wall panel by an intermediate bottom wall panel, the first and second wall panels in the erected folder defining either the front and rear walls or the rear and front walls of the folder respectively, a pair of side wall panels foldably connected to opposite sides of the second wall panel, and an attachment panel foldably connected to each side wall panel, each attachment panel in the erected folder residing in face to face contact with the first wall panel and being connected thereto by cooperable latch means, the co-operable latch means for connecting each attachment panel to the first wall panel comprising at least one tongue engageable with a co-operating tongue accommodating opening, characterised in that in the erected folder the first wall panel overlies each attachment panel to leave the upper portions thereof exposed so that the front wall of the folder is defined by the first wall panel and the exposed upper portions of the attachment panels, the cooperable latch means being located near to the upper edge of the first wall panel, and further characterised in that each tongue is integrally formed on the first wall panel and which, in the erected folder extends through a co-operating opening in the attachment panel to project into the interior of the folder to underlie the attachment panel, the sheet material being resilient and being formed from either a plastics sheet or a card laminated on one or both sides with a plastics film and that the fold lines between the first wall panel, side wall panels and attachment panels are such that after folding along these lines, the side wall panels and attachment panels are biased to return toward their unfolded positions by the inherent resilience of the sheet material forming the blank so that, in the erected folder, each tongue is urged into engagement with its co-operating tongue accommodating opening to thereby maintain the folder in its erected condition. As indicated above each integral latch formation is maintained in an engaged condition by outward bias of !he sidewalls which is created by the inherent resilience of the sheet material when folding the blank. This bias is also supplemented in use by the weight of documents contained within the erected folder. The present invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a folder according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of a blank suitable for forming the folder illustrated in Figure 1. The folder illustrated in Figure 1 includes a rear wall 11, a front wall 12, a pair of side walls 14,16 respectively, a bottom wall 18, a top wall 20 and a closure flap 22 attached to the top wall 20. The upper sides of the rear, front and side walls define a mouth 24 which provides access into the interior of the folder. The mouth 24 is conveniently enlarged as shown by forming a recess 25 in the upper portion of the front wall 12. The flap 22 is provided with one part of a catch 28 and the front wall 12 is provided with a co-operating part of the catch 28 so that the top wall 20 and flap 22 may be moved to close the mouth 24 and be releasably retained in that position. The catch 28 may be of any conventional construction, but is preferably of a type that can be readily attached manually. If desired more than one catch 28 may be provided. The blank 3 for forming the folder of Figure 1 is shown in Figure 2 and is conveniently formed in a single operation from a suitable sheet material. Suitable sheet materials include plastics sheet such as polypropylene of say a thickness between 0.5mm to 1.5mm or card which is laminated with a plastics film on one or both sides of the card. In forming the blank, the blank is cut and is provided with various fold lines FL to define the following, a rear wall forming panel 40, a pair of side wall forming panels 42,43 respectively, a bottom wall forming panel 46, a main front wall forming panel 48, a top wall forming panel 50, a closure flap forming panel 52, sidewall attachment panels 53,54 a pair of co-operating latch formations 56,57 and reinforcement tabs 58. The attachment panels 53,54 have formed therein a latch formation 56 in the form of a slit 60 having inwardly directed end portions 62 which define a tab receiving opening. The main front wall panel 48 is provided with a latch formation 57 in the form of a tab or tongue 65 which is defined by a 'U' shaped slit 66. To erect a folder from the blank 30, the tabs 58 are folded toward the attached sidewall forming panel 42,43 respectively, the sidewall forming panels 42,43 are then folded toward the rear wall panel 40, and the attachment panels 53,54 are folded toward the attached sidewall panel 42,43 respectively. The bottom wall panel 46 and main front wall panel 48 are folded toward the rear wall panel 40 to thereby overlap the folded attachment panels 53,54. The tabs 65 are then introduced through the tab receiving opening in the underlying attachment panel 53,54 respectively to achieve a folder as illustrated in Figure 1. Formation of at least the fold lines defining the sidewalls and attachment panels 42,43,53 and 54 is performed so that after folding, those panels are biased by the inherent resilience of the sheet material to return toward their unfolded positions. Accordingly, as seen in Figure 1, sidewalls 14,16 are biased outwardly and so urge the latch formations 56,57 into engagement to thereby maintain the folder in its erected condition. It follows therefore that the latch formations 56,57 may be in the form of a simple tab or tongue and accommodating slit, the tab and slit not requiring additional formations for restraining removal of the tab from the slit. Accordingly engagement of a tab into a co-operating slit is easily achieved. It will be appreciated that the folders of the present invention may be stored in a flat condition, which minimises the amount of storage space required, and that a folder is simply and quickly erected when required. The blank is also preferably provided with apertures 70 to enable the catch means to be attached in the correct position. Such catch means can be conveniently stored separately and attached to the blank prior to erection. The front wall 12 is preferably formed as illustrated in Figure 1, namely from a main panel 48 and the upper portions of attachment panels 53 and 54. In this way it is possible to locate the latch formations 56,57 near to the upper edge of the front panel 48 and yet at an intermediate position between the ends of each side wall. It is envisaged that the side wall and associated attachment panel for each side wall may be attached to the front panel 48. The material chosen for blank should have sufficient stiffness to maintain reasonable rigidity in the side walls and bottom wall to restrain collapse of the folder. The reinforcement tabs 58 serve to restrain collapse of the folder at the bottom corners thereof. If necessary, the tabs 58 may be extended in length as illustrated in broken lines in Figure 2 so that in the erected folder the terminal end portions 58 a of the tabs 58 overlap one another. The overlapping end portions 58 a are provided with co-operating latch means, in the form of slits 58 b , to restrain longitudinal separation of the tabs 58. In this way the tabs not only serve to provide reinforvement for the bottom wall 46 but also act to restrain outward movement of the sidewalls 42, 43 at the bottom region thereof. In view of the absence of fixing means for creating an erected folder large unimpeded surfaces are present on the folder which enable printing of promotional matter to be provided. It will be appreciated that the above construction of blanks also conveniently enables a variety of sizes of folders to be produced simply by altering the dimensions of the blanks during manufacture. In addition, particularly for larger folders it is envisaged that the top wall forming panel 50 may be adapted, for instance by the provision of suitable apertures, for the attachment of a carrying handle.

Claims: A blank for a folder including a front wall (12) spaced from a rear wall (11) by a pair of side walls (14,16) and a bottom wall (18), the blank being formed from a single sheet of material which is cut and provided with fold lines to define a first wall panel (40,48) connected to a second wall panel (40,48) by an intermediate bottom wall panel (46), the first and second wall panels in the erected folder defining either the front and rear walls or the rear and front walls of the folder respectively, a pair of side wall panels (42,43) foldably connected to opposite sides of the second wall panel, and an attachment panel (53,54) foldably connected to each side wall panel, each attachment panel in the erected folder residing in face to face contact with the first wall panel and being connected thereto by co-operable latch means (56,57), the co-operable latch means for connecting each attachment panel to the first wall panel comprising at least one tongue (65) engageable with a co-operating tongue accommodating opening (60), characterised in that in the erected folder the first wall panel overlies each attachment panel (53, 54) to leave the upper portions thereof exposed so that the front wall (12) of the folder is defined by the first wall panel and the exposed upper portions of the attachment panels, the co-operable latch means (56, 57) being located near to the upper edge of the first wall panel, and further characterised in that each tongue (65) is integrally formed on the first wall panel and which, in the erected folder extends through a co-operating opening (60) in the attachment panel to project into the interior of the folder to underlie the attachment panel, the sheet material being resilient and being formed from either a plastics sheet or a card laminated on one or both sides with a plastics film and that the fold lines (FL) between the first wall panel (40,48), side wall panels (42,43) and attachment panels (53,54) are such that after folding along these lines, the side wall panels and attachment panels are biased to return toward their unfolded positions by die inherent resilience of the sheet material forming the blank so that, in the erected folder, each tongue (65) is urged into engagement with its co-operating tongue accommodating opening (60) to thereby maintain the folder in its erected condition. A blank according to claim 1 characterised in that each tongue is defined by a U-shaped slit (66) formed in the first wall panel. A blank according to claim 2 characterised in that each tongue accommodating opening (60) is in the form of a slit (60) formed in the attachment panel and which extends substantially parallel to, the fold line between the attachment and the side wall panels. A blank according to claim 3 characterised in that each slit defining a tongue accommodating opening has inwardly directed end portions (62) which extend toward the fold line between the attachment and side wall panels. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that a reinforcement tab (58) is foldably attached to each side wall forming panel at a bottom edge thereof. A blank according to claim 5 characterised in that the reinforcement tabs are of extended length so as to have overlapping terminal end portions (58a) in the erected folder. A blank according to claim 6 characterised in that the overlapping terminal end portions have co-operable latch means (58b) which when engaged restrain longitudinal separation of the reinforcement tabs (58). A blank according to any preceding claim characterised in that the plastics sheet is polypropylene. A blank according to any preceding claim characterised in that the thickness of the plastics sheet is between 0.5 to 1.5mm. A document folder constructed from a blank according to any one of the preceding claims.

Inventors: SKIDMORE HARRY JOHN, SKIDMORE SEAN DEAN, SKIDMORE, HARRY JOHN, SKIDMORE, SEAN DEAN
Applicants: EASIBIND LTD, EASI-BIND INTERNATIONAL LTD.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B42F7
IPC codes: B65D5, B42F7