A FOLDED BOOKLET AND BLANK THEREFOR

Abstract: There is described an integral folded booklet (11) and cover (12). The booklet and cover may be made from one sheet and may comprise a cover part and a folded sheet (13) of laminar material, in which the cover part is part of the folded sheet of laminar material and is treated to make it distinguishable, e.g. by degree of stiffness, from the folded sheet. There is also described a blank for the booklet and cover.

Description: A FOLDED BOOKLET AND BLANK THEREFOR Technological background The present invention relates generally to folded booklets and particularly, although not exclusively, to booklets of a size approximating that of a credit card- It is known that the use of small plastics cards is becoming ever more widespread. They are used as credit cards, debit cards, store cards, identity cards and for a wide variety of other purposes . Correspondingly there is widespread use of wallets with compartments for holding such cards. For convenience of the user the majority of such cards are made to standardised dimensions. This growing use has also made it convenient to provide leaflets in a form which will fold to approximately the same size as a credit card so that they, too, can be stored in such wallets. Such leaflets may have a wide variety of uses. For example they may be used to present a limited body of information in a concise manner to a user, for example concerning a particular area of activity or a geographical area. Alternatively, or in addition, such leaflets may be a vehicle for advertising material or promotional coupons or vouchers. In this latter case, the leaflet may be perforated into a number of smaller elements each of which can be torn off to be exchanged for goods or services, or whatever transaction may be envisaged. In order to provide a cover for such folded leaflets it has been known to produce a separate blank, subsequently attached to one corner of the leaflet, to define two folded leaves between which the leaflet itself can be folded into its folded state. One alternative, used in an attempt to avoid having to make a folded cover, involves the application to opposite diagonal corners of a foldable sheet or leaflet of card-like stiffening elements which, when the leaflet is folded, lie on opposite sides of the folded structure to define opposite faces thereof. When such a structure is open, of course, the cover elements, which are stiffer and heavier than the main material of the leaflet, detract from its usefulness. Moreover, if the leaflet is perforated into a number of tear-off elements such a structure cannot be used since the act of tearing off vouchers may also separate one cover from the other. The present invention seeks, therefore, to provide a folded booklet, and a blank for forming a folded booklet which may be in the form of a plurality of tear-off vouchers on a single sheet, in a form to enable them to be folded and stored conveniently and without risk of damage in a ' wallet, pocket or other like portable container. -The present invention also seeks to provide an alternative, attractive mode of presenting folded sheets of vouchers, leaflets or coupons to the public. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an integral folded booklet and cover. In another aspect the invention provides a folded booklet and cover made from a simple sheet. The folded booklet of the present invention may be considered to comprise a cover part and a folded sheet of laminar material, in which the cover part is itself part of the said folded sheet of laminar material but treated in such a way as to make it distinguishable from the folded sheet. Conveniently, of course, such treatment makes the cover part more resistant to tearing and/or stiffer and more resistant to bending than the folded sheet. This is not, however, absolutely essential, and the treatment may in fact involve no more than printing an appropriate image or message on that part of the device which is intended to form the cover. A folded booklet formed as an embodiment of the present invention may have a folded sheet of laminar material divided into areas by lines of perforations along which the sheet is folded. The said cover part may be treated with a stiffening material on at least one face thereof, or on both faces. Such treatment may, as mentioned above, comprise the application of a material which causes the sheet material to be more tear resistant and/or stiffer than the remaining region of the sheet. This may be achieved by the lamination of a stiffening material to one or both faces thereof, or by other means such as impregnation with a stiffening agent. Lamination of a stiffening material to the cover part of the sheet may be achieved using any of the known plastics materials suitable for this purpose, for example polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene. This list of potential laminating materials is, of course, exemplary and non-exhaustive. The present invention also comprehends a folded booklet in which the stiffening material is a coating applied in a fluid state. Such coating may be absorbed into the material of the sheet or may remain on the surface. The stiffening effect may be achieved after the coating has been cured .or hardened, and this may be achieved by exposing it to ultraviolet light, heat, or merely air- drying . The present invention also comprehends a blank for forming a folded booklet, comprising a single sheet having a cover portion treated to distinguish it from the remainder of the sheet which constitutes a foldable portion. Such treatment may be a reinforcement or a stiffening of the cover portion. The foldable portion may be perforated in lines defining areas the size of which allows the foldable portion to be folded into an area not greater than that of the said cover portion. The cover portion itself may have a fold line extending across a median region thereof, whereby the cover portion may be folded to enclose the foldable portion (in its folded state) for protection thereof and convenience of handling . The cover portion itself may thus comprise two leaves joined along a fold line. A free edge of one leaf of the cover portion may be provided with retainer means for engagement with a cooperating structure of formation on a free edge portion of the other leaf. Such retainer may be a tab, and the corresponding structure or formation may be a slot in the free edge portion of the other leaf into which the tab may be introduced to retain the cover in the closed condition. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the foldable portion of the sheet preferably extends from one edge of one of the leaves of the cover portion. This may be an edge lying orthogonally to the fold line. The said foldable portion itself may comprise a single strip with a plurality of transfer fold lines defined by respective rows of perforations . One embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a perspective view of a folded booklet in an opened condition. Referring now to the drawing, the folded booklet 11 comprises a cover part 12 and a foldable part 13 integrally formed from a single sheet of laminar materials such as paper or card. The cover part comprises two leaves 14, 15 joined together at a hinge line 16. The two leaves 14, 15 are of exactly the same size and shape and differ from one another only that in the leaf 14 carries a folded tab 16 at its free end opposite the hinge line, whilst in the region of the free end of the leaf 15 opposite the hinge line 16 is a cooperating slot 17 into which the tab 16 can be introduced when the two leaves 14, 15 are folded to a closed configuration about the hinge line 16. The two leaves 14, 15 have dimensions corresponding to those of a conventional plastics credit card, the hinge line 16 and two opposite free ends being the smaller dimensions of a rectangle, whilst the orthogonal edges are the longer edges from one of which, the edge 18 of the leaf 14, extends the foldable part 13 of the folding booklet . The foldable part 13 comprises an elongate strip of laminar material separated into individual elements 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 by parallel lines of perforations 24, 25, 26, 27. The element 19 which is attached to the leaf 14 of the cover is, likewise, connected thereto by a line of perforations parallel to and coincident with the edge 18, and indicated herein with the reference numeral 28. A blank from which the folding booklet 11 is formed would thus be a generally L-shape integral blank of the laminar material which is subsequently provided with the fold line 16 and the perforations 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. Any suitable messages or information can be printed on one or both sides of either the cover part 12 or the foldable part 13. In order to adapt it for its function as a protective cover, the two leads 14, 15 are treated with a suitable treatment which has the purpose of rendering the cover more resistant to abrasion or stiffer or otherwise distinguishing it from the foldable part 13. Such treatment may not, in fact, render it stiffer or more abrasion resistant, but may simply make it stand out obviously as a cover, and may comprise no more than printing an appropriate colour and/or image and/or message on one or both faces of the leaves 14, 15. A suitable treatment may comprise coating the surface of one side or both sides of one or both leaves 14, 15 with a lacquer or varnish, or one or both sides of one or both leaves may be laminated with a plastics material such as polypropylene or polyester. These are particularly suitable since they are highly transparent, have a very smooth surface and, together with the foldable material which may be a paper or card, adds a high degree of resistance to bending and abrasion so that, when the foldable part 13 is folded up inside and the cover closed, it can be carried in a pocket or a wallet without significant deterioration in its appearance even over an extended period of time. The individual elements 19-23 of the foldable part may be any items suitable for transactions, such as tickets, vouchers, coupons or the like. The foldable booklet of the invention may thus be sold as a book of tickets for a number of journeys, a plurality of vouchers exchangeable for goods or services, or any like such purpose. The cover surfaces of the leaves 14, 15 may bear advertising material and/or identification and verification codes such as bar codes which are machine readable to prevent fraud. Although the illustrated embodiment has a single row of parallel elements, it will be appreciated that the blank from which the foldable booklet is made may be wider such that two or more parallel rows of such elements may be defined within the area of the foldable portion 13 which, therefore, may be folded up into a relatively thick pack of individual vouchers, coupons, tickets or the like.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An integral folded booklet and cover comprising a single sheet of laminar material with a plurality of concertina folds, characterised in that the cover is formed from two adjacent regions of the said sheet rendered distinguishable from the remainder of the sheet and joined to one another by a fold line. 2. A folded booklet according to Claim 1, characterised in that the said folded sheet of laminar material is divided into areas by perforated lines along which the sheet is folded. 3. A folded booklet according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that the said cover part is treated with a stiffening material on at least one face. 4. A folded booklet according to Claim 5, characterised in that the stiffening material is a plastics material. 5. A folded booklet according to Claim 3, characterised in that the distinguishing treatment is a coating applied in a fluid state and curing or hardening to its stiff state. 6. A blank ' for forming a folded booklet, comprising a single sheet having a cover portion reinforced with a stiffening material and a foldable portion. 7. A blank according to Claim 6, characterised in that the foldable portion is perforated in lines defining areas the size of which allows the foldable portions to be folded into an area not greater than that of the said cover portion. 8. A blank according to Claim 6 or 7, characterised in that the cover portion comprises two leaves joined along a folded line. 9. A blank according to Claim 8, characterised in that a free edge of one leaf of the cover portion has a retainer tab for engagement in a slot in a free edge portion of the other leaf. 10. A blank according to Claim 8 or 9, characterised in that the foldable portion extends from one edge of one of the leaves of the cover portion. 11. A blank according to any one of Claims 6 to 10, characterised in that the said foldable portion comprises a single strip with a plurality of transverse fold lines defined by respective rows of perforations.

Inventors: TYTHE JOHN, TYTHE, JOHN
Applicants: PINTEL LTD, TYTHE JOHN, PINTEL LIMITED, TYTHE, JOHN
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B42D
IPC codes: B42D1