Patent Publication Number: US-6209778-B1

Title: Slash jacket with a retractable attachment member

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Traditional slash jackets are made from a single sheet of paper folded to provide front and back panels which are attached to each other. The back panel is generally rectangular, and the top portion of the front panel is cut off diagonally. The bottom and usually both lateral sides of the front and back panels are adhered to each other, forming a compartment for paper storage between the panels with an opening at the top of the jacket and with closed sides and bottom. The cutout section of the front panel permits a portion of papers kept in the jacket to be viewed, while the rectangular back panel and the full length closed side of the slash jacket securely retain the contents in the jacket. 
     Some slash jackets are made without any perforations. Others slash jackets, however, include a perforated edge for receiving binder rings, enabling the jacket to be bound in a binder, such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,602. Papers stored in a slash jacket of this type may shift towards the perforated edge, requiring that they be moved back away from that edge before the jacket is placed within a binder. Also, binders that have such an edge must be made significantly wider than the width of the papers they are meant to carry to provide the necessary space for the stored papers in addition to the space required for the perforations. 
     In addition, traditional slash jackets, as taught in the &#39;602 patent, are shaped to contain a only thin stack of papers and are not readily expandable. File pockets, on the other hand, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,731, are constructed to carry a thick stack of papers. The folder disclosed in the &#39;731 patent has front and rear panels connected to each other along the bottom and lateral sides of the folder by gussets. The gussets along the sides of the folder are equally long, and the front panel extends straight across the top of the folder. These gussets allow the folder to expand, to fit a variable paper stack thickness. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,850 teaches a folder with an expandable pocket formed from a sheet. A front and a back of the pocket are connected by accordion type expansion zones located only on the bottom and one side of the pocket. The front is made from two overlapping portions that are not fixed to each other, but are connected by a slidable tab. This sliding tab arrangement, however, is relatively weak, and relies on a hinged leaf to cover the pocket. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to file with a retractable member that can be extended beyond a lateral edge of the file, and that can also be retracted between front and back panels of the file. The retractable member includes a attachment member, such as a perforated portion configured to receive rings of a three-ring binder. When the retractable member is extended, the file is mountable in the binder. When the file is taken out of the binder, the retracted retractable member is protected from wear, and reduces the width of the file to enable storage in other files that are not significantly wider. 
     The preferred embodiment of the file is a slash jacket with a narrow open top and a diagonally cut front panel. The front panel is secured to the back panel on three sides, including on a narrow bottom and two opposite wide sides. The attachment member is connected to one of the wide sides to prevent papers from falling out of the jacket laterally when the jacket is placed within a binder. Also, the front and back panels are connected by an expandable portion, such as a gusset, permitting stacks of varying thicknesses to be contained within the jacket. dr 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top-left perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a slash jacket constructed according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a back view of the jacket; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the jacket; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom right perspective view of the jacket; 
     FIG. 5 is a cutaway front-view of the jacket; 
     FIG. 6 is a top view of the left side of the jacket with a retractable member in an extended position; 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the left side of the jacket with the retractable member in a retracted position; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the jacket with the retractable member in the retracted position; and 
     FIG. 9 is a view of the outside of a blank from which the jacket is manufactured. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-3, slash jacket file  10  is made from a single sheet of a paper material. The jacket  10  includes a front panel  12  and a back panel  14  which face each other. 
     The back panel  14  is rectangular, with back top and bottom sides  16  and  18  that are narrower than back left and right sides  20  and  22 . The back top, bottom, left and right sides of the embodiment shown thus include back first, second, third, and fourth sides. The front panel  12  also has front diagonal, bottom, left, right, and top sides  24 ,  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32 , which in the embodiment shown include front first, second, third, and fourth sides. The front diagonal edge  34  of the front diagonal side  24  has a portion disposed at an angle  36  to back top edge  38  of the back top side  16 . The angle  36  is preferably between 25° and 65°, and most preferably about 45°. The front top side  32  is relatively short compared to the back top edge  38  and is parallel thereto. The front right side  30  is shorter than the back right side  22  and is preferably less than half as long. The back left side  20  and the front left side  28  are preferably substantially coextensive and adjacent each other. The back bottom side  18  and the front bottom side  26  are also preferably substantially coextensive and adjacent each other. In the embodiment shown, the front and back panels  12  and  14  together define an outer file border  72 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, an expandable member  40  connects front left side  28  with the back left side  20 , front bottom edge  42  of the front bottom side  26  with back bottom edge  44  of the back bottom side  18 , and front right edge  46  of the front right side  30  with back right edge  48  of the back right side  22 . The front diagonal side  24  and the back top side  16  are substantially free from each other, and in the preferred embodiment are only connected at the top of the left edges  50  and  52  through the expandable member  40 . 
     A container compartment  53  is defined between the front and back panels  12  and  14  and the expandable member  40 . The compartment  53  is open at the top, and is configured to receive a stack of papers so that a corner of the stack protrudes above the front diagonal side  24 . The front and back panels  12  and  14  have insides and outsides  54  and  55 , relative to the compartment  53 . The expandable member  40  retains the contents of the compartment  53  on three sides thereof, ensuring that the contents will not slide out from the left or right sides of the jacket  10 . The expandable member  40  includes a gusset that permits the front and back panels  12  and  14  to permit the front and back to separate and move towards each other while remaining substantially in parallel with each other, without widening or heightening the dimensions of the jacket. 
     The left side of the expandable member  40  is connected to front left edge  42  of the front left side  28 , but back left edge  44  of the back left side  28  is substantially free from the expandable member  40  except at the bottom corner thereof. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the expandable member  40  has an extension  58  adhered to the back panel  14  towards the right of the back left edge  44  with adhesive  59 . A space  60  thus remains between extension  58  and the back left side  20 . The retraction depth  61  of the space  60  is greater than the length  62  of the retractable member  56 , and preferably is about a third longer. 
     A tab  63  is connected to the back panel  14 , and extends laterally beyond the back right edge  48  for quick identification of the jacket  10 . The expandable member  40  is adhered to the inside  54  of the back panel  12 , to permit the tab  63  to be placed adjacent the expandable member  40 . Preferably, a set of jackets includes jackets with tabs disposed in different positions along the back right edge, so that each tab may be seen when the jackets are bound in a binder. 
     The jacket  10  has a retractable member  56  associated with the front and back panels  12  and  14 . Preferably, the retractable member  56  is a continuation of the back panel  14 . The preferred retractable member  56  is an attachment member with perforations  64  configured to receive binder rings, for attaching the jacket in a standard ringbinder. 
     In FIGS. 1-6, the retractable member  56  is shown in an extended position, beyond the front and back left edges  42  and  44  for attachment to a binder. The retractable member  56  is also foldable to a retracted position in which the member  56  received in space  60  between the front and back left edges  42  and  44  and front and back left sides  20  and  28 , as shown in FIG.  7 . Member  56  is substantially flat, and substantially completely within the outer border  72  in the embodiment shown. A score  66  extends between the back panel  14  and the retractable member  56  along the back left edge  44 , creating a weakened portion that provides a natural fold about which the retractable member  56  pivots between the extended and retracted positions. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, the back left edge  44  is substantially free and unattached from the extendable member  40  and thus from the front panel  12 , including upper corner  68  of the back left edge  44 , connecting this edge  44  with the back top edge  38 . As shown in FIG. 2, corner  68  has a rounded contour to prevent snagging and to reduce wear. The bottom corner  70  of the back left edge  44 , on the other hand, is fixed to the bottom of the expandable member  40 , and thus to the front panel  12 . The sheet of paper from which the jacket is made is preferably continuous across the front bottom side  26 , the expandable member  40 , and the back bottom edge  18  and the bottom of the back left edge  44 . This construction keeps the portion of the back panel  14  that extends beyond where the back panel  14  is adhered to the 
     Referring to FIG. 9, the entire jacket  10  is preferably made from a single, unitary paper blank. The front back panels  12  and  14  are each of integral construction. Scores  66  are made in the blank to produce the desired folds in the gussets of the expandable member  40  and between the back panel  14  and the retractable member  56 . The blank is preferably made from a strong and durable paper material, such as manila or kraft paper. 
     One of ordinary skill in the art can envision numerous variations and modifications. For example, in an alternative embodiment, the retractable member is a retractable tab to which labels can be affixed. All of these modifications are contemplated by the true spirit and scope of the following claims.