Patent Publication Number: US-9849715-B2

Title: Case for document storage assembly

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/197,846, filed Jul. 28, 2015, and titled “DOCUMENT STORAGE TRAY,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure generally relates to a document storage tray. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the disclosure are described, including various embodiments of the disclosure with reference to the figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of a document storage tray, the tray in a storage configuration. 
         FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of the document storage tray, the tray in a deployed configuration. 
         FIG. 3  is a side perspective view of the document storage tray, the tray receiving a document. 
         FIG. 4  is a side perspective view of the document storage tray, a document stored in the tray. 
         FIG. 5  is a side perspective view of the document storage tray, an occupied document storage sleeve disposed on a document panel. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the document storage tray, the tray including an alignment rail and corresponding rods. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the document storage tray, the tray including alignment fixtures formed in the body of the document storage tray. 
     
    
    
     In the following description, numerous specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of the various embodiments disclosed herein. The embodiments disclosed herein can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In addition, in some cases, well-known structures, materials, or operations may not be shown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more alternative embodiments. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure provides various embodiments of a document tray with pins for securing and aligning a plurality of document storage sleeves. According to various embodiments, a document tray may be configured with an internal rail to couple with clips and/or pins and may facilitate alignment of the plurality of document storage sleeves. When documents are disposed within one or more of the document storage sleeves of the plurality of document storage sleeves, the document tray may provide organization and alignment of the stored documents to allow convenient viewing of the stored documents without the need to remove them from the document storage sleeves. 
     A document storage tray may have a tray body with a planar region for document storage. Two ridges raised from the tray body may define two sides of the planar region. Further, two alignment rails may be coupled to the tray body. In some embodiments, the two alignment rails may be disposed within the two ridges. A plurality of alignment rods may be coupled to the two alignment rails, and a plurality of document storage sleeves may be pivotally coupled to the alignment rods. The plurality of document storage sleeves may be stacked and spread such that each document storage sleeve succeeding a bottom storage sleeve at least partially overlays a preceding document storage sleeve thereby forming a tapered stack. In one embodiment, the raised ridges may taper at a slope equivalent to the tapered stack of document storage sleeves. 
     Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
     Additionally, any of a wide variety of materials and manufacturing methods may be used to produce the various components of the presently described document tray for aligned storage of documents. For example, a tray may utilize various plastics, rubbers, nylons, glasses, metals, metal alloys, fabrics, leathers, and/or other suitable materials. 
       FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of a document storage tray  100 , according to one embodiment. The document storage tray  100  may include a tray body  110 , a document panel  120 , and a plurality of document storage sleeves  10 . The body of the document storage tray  100  may be of a rectangular shape, and of a size suitable for storing documents on a planar surface  108  of the tray body  110 . Generally speaking, the document tray body  110  may be configured to facilitate document storage. The portion of the tray body  110  closest to the document panel  120  shall be referred to herein as the proximal portion of the tray  115 , with the opposite portion of the tray referred to as the distal portion  113 . Further, the lateral edge  111  of the tray body  110  is visible in  FIG. 1 . 
     The body of the document storage tray  110  may include a document storage region  114  and a document panel support  118 . A pair of extended ridges  112  may be disposed adjacent to the lateral edges  111  of the tray body  110 , and with a planar document surface  108  may form a document storage region  114 . The two extended ridges  112  may be disposed in the tray body  110 , along the intersection of the planar document surface  108  and the lateral tray edges  111 . The height of the extended ridges  112  may truncate from the proximal end of the tray  115  to the distal end of the tray  113 , such that the extended ridges  112  may terminate spatially prior to the distal end of the tray body  110 . 
     This configuration of the extended ridges  112  may facilitate document storage, specifically by retaining the document storage sleeves  10  within the document storage region  114  defined by the extended ridges  112  and the planar document surface  108 . Additionally, the height of the extended ridges  112  may truncate so that it can be approximately equal to the height of the plurality of document storage sleeves  10  at all points along the length of the document storage tray  100 . As a result, the configuration of the extended ridges  112  may facilitate storage of the document storage tray  100  by allowing multiple document storage trays to be vertically stacked, with the base of one document storage tray  100  supported by the extended ridges  112  of the document storage tray positioned below it. In other embodiments, the extended ridges  112  may be of a greater height or width overall, or may be of a greater height or width at specific points. Further, the truncation of the extended ridges  112  may vary from the truncation of the extended ridges  112  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Speaking of the embodiments generally and individually, the document storage tray  100  may be of any suitable shape, size, or other relevant configuration. Such a configuration may allow the document storage tray  100  to store one or more documents of suitable size. Additionally, the document storage tray  100  may be capable of pivotally coupling one or more documents disposed within a storage sleeve with the tray body  110 . 
     The planar document surface  108  may facilitate an organized arrangement/alignment of the document storage sleeves  10 . A first document storage sleeve may be disposed on the planar document surface  108 , with a second sleeve disposed to overlay the first sleeve. A third storage sleeve may similarly overlay the second sleeve. Additional storage sleeves may be disposed according to the same pattern, to overlay the prior storage sleeves disposed within the document storage region  114 . As can be appreciated, the document storage region  114  may be of any suitable size to contain a corresponding plurality of document storage sleeves  10 . 
     The document panel support  118  may be a wedge-shaped extension of the tray body  110 , disposed in the proximal region. Further, the panel support  118  may be configured to receive the document panel  120  at an angle relative to the planar document surface  108 , and may support a deployed document panel  120  against any downward force applied to it. This configuration of the support may prevent the document panel  120  and the tray body  110  from decoupling when a downward oriented force is applied to the document panel  120 , such as when a number of documents overlay the panel or when a user presses on the panel. Additionally, the panel support  118  may serve to limit the rotational range of the document panel  120  to some predetermined value, specifically the degree of rotation at which the document panel  120  abuts the panel support  118 . 
     The document panel  120  of the document storage tray  100  may facilitate the storage of the document tray, as well as increase the ease of viewing and accessing documents contained within the document storage tray  100 . The document panel  120  may be referred to herein as the panel, the document viewing panel, or the rotatable panel. The document panel  120  may rotatably couple with the document storage tray body  110 , and may transition between a storage configuration and a deployed configuration. In other embodiments, the characteristics of the document panel  120  described herein may vary. 
       FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of the document storage tray  100 , with the document panel  120  in a deployed position. With the document panel  120  in a deployed position a user may overlay one or more document storage sleeves  10  upon the document panel  120 . 
     The document panel  120  may be pivotally coupled with the body of the document storage tray  110  via any suitable system of pivotal coupling that may allow the document panel  120  to rotate away from the document tray body  110 , to be received by the document panel support  118 . In a particular embodiment, the document panel  120  and tray body  110  may be pivotally coupled via hinges disposed in the tray body  110 . The document panel  120  may include two hinge rods disposed opposite one another in the lateral edges of the panel body. The hinge rods may be configured to couple with a corresponding pair of hinge lumens  124  that are disposed in the tray body  110 . The hinge rods of the document panel  120  may be inserted into the hinge lumens  124  of the tray body  110 , such that the rods may freely rotate within the lumens, but may be prevented from moving (i.e., laterally, horizontally, or vertically) while so coupled. Thus, a user may take the document panel  120  from a storage configuration to a deployed configuration by rotating the document panel  120  away from the document storage region  114  of the tray body  110  and toward the document panel support  118 . 
     The document panel  120  may be configured to form an extended crosspiece  122  along its edge, to facilitate transitioning the panel from a storage configuration to a deployed configuration. The extended crosspiece  122  may allow a user to easily grasp or manipulate the document panel  120  and prevent unintentional grasping or undesired physical manipulation of any document storage sleeves  10  that the panel may overlay. As a result, the user may easily manipulate the extended crosspiece  122  of the panel, and thus the document panel  120  generally, without simultaneously grasping or manipulating the document storage sleeves  10 . 
     In one embodiment, the extended crosspiece  122  may selectively couple the document panel  120  to the extended ridges  112 . For example, the extended crosspiece  122  may lock to the extended ridges  112 , and may need an uncoupling force that is greater than the gravitational force on the plurality of document storage sleeves  10  to uncouple the document panel  120  from the extended ridges  112 . 
     A storage configuration of the document panel  120  may include when the document panel  120  is disposed adjacent to the plurality of document storage sleeves  10 , partially overlaying them. When in the storage configuration, the document panel  120  may partially or significantly restrict the movement or rotation of the plurality of document storage sleeves  10 , or of several storage sleeves individually. The storage configuration of the document panel  120  may facilitate storage of multiple document storage trays, by providing a planar surface upon which another similar document storage tray, or other suitable object, may be vertically stacked or placed. 
     Additionally, a deployed (i.e., extended) configuration of the document panel  120  may be defined as when the document panel  120  is rotated away from the document tray body  110 , and abuts the document panel support  118 . In the deployed configuration, the document panel  120  may receive one or more document storage sleeves of the plurality of document storage sleeves  10  to facilitate access/visibility of the documents housed in the sleeves. Thus, a user may rotate the document panel  120  away from the document tray body  110 , overlaying the document panel support  118  with the document panel  120 , and dispose one or more of the document storage sleeves  10  to overlay the deployed document panel  120 . The user may then read, view, or otherwise access the documents in the storage sleeves overlaying the document panel  120 . 
     The document panel  120  may be made of the same material as the document tray body  110 . In other embodiments, the document panel  120  may be made of any suitably rigid and durable material. For example, the document tray body  110  may be made of a metal, metal alloy, plastic polymer, non-plastic, or other suitable material. The body of the document panel  120  may be of comparable size to a document storage sleeve, but may be slightly larger than a storage sleeve. The document panel  120  may be sized slightly larger than a storage sleeve to facilitate retention of a sleeve when placed on the document panel  120  such that the storage sleeve overlays the document panel  120 . 
       FIGS. 3-5  are side perspective views of the document storage tray  100 , with the document panel  120  in a deployed position and a document storage sleeve  12  receiving a document  22 . A document storage sleeve of the plurality of document storage sleeves  10  may be configured to allow insertion of a document  22  and retention of the document  22  within the document storage sleeve  12 . Ideally, such a system may facilitate an organization of one or more documents. Each storage sleeve may house or contain a document (e.g., a medical record or medical card), which may include printed text and/or graphics, each of potentially varying sizes. A document storage sleeve  12  may be configured to clearly display the document it contains to a user, so that the document  22  may be easily viewed by a user without requiring removal of the document  22  from the document storage sleeve  12 . The document storage sleeves  10  may be configured to facilitate visibility of documents stored in their interior via the transparency of the document storage sleeve material. 
     The document storage sleeves  10  may be formed by a transparent or semi-transparent sheet of plastic folded along a center line to create two adjacent sleeve edges, disposed opposite the fold. The edges may be fastened together by two or more fasteners or clips  136  (e.g., U-clips). The secured edge of a document storage sleeve may be prevented from extending away from, or retracting toward, the tray body  110 . Further, the configuration may prevent any lateral motion of the storage sleeve. 
     The document storage sleeve may include top and bottom edges, into which a document may be inserted. The top and bottom open edges of the document storage sleeve may be marginally separated by a user to facilitate insertion of a document into the document storage sleeve. The edges may then return to their original positions prior to being marginally separated by the user. In their original positions the top and bottom edges may secure the document within the document storage sleeve, and may prevent the document from unintentionally exiting the document storage sleeve. 
     Each of the storage sleeves may be substantially aligned to uniformly arrange the document storage sleeves  10  within the document storage region  114 . Further, the document storage sleeves  10  may couple with the tray body  110  at evenly spaced intervals. The document storage sleeves  10  may be pivotally coupled with the tray body  110  via one or more clips  136 . 
     As can be appreciated, the storage sleeve may be of any sufficiently flexible material to permit bending, or otherwise manipulating, of the storage sleeve (e.g., during insertion into or removal of the sleeve from the document tray), without permanent distortion of the storage sleeve. Further, the plurality of document storage sleeves  10  may partly include, or may be wholly composed of, document storage sleeves that are configured to couple with a preexisting document storage tray, such that the sleeves of the document storage tray  100  and the storage sleeves for another preexisting document storage tray may be substantially or completely interchangeable. 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded side perspective view of the document storage tray  100 , with the alignment rails  130  and alignment rods  126  visible. 
     The document storage tray  100  may further include two alignment rails  130 , disposed parallel to each other. The two alignment rails  130  may be configured to significantly align the plurality of document storage sleeves  10 . The two alignment rails  130  may be separated by a particular distance that is roughly equal to the size of the storage sleeves. In other embodiments, the distance between the two alignment rods  126  may be slightly less than the height of a storage sleeve to facilitate coupling of the clips  136  and the alignment rails  130 . The alignment rails  130  may be disposed between the proximal and distal ends of the tray body  110 , with the alignment rails  130  parallel to each other and the lateral tray edges. In some embodiments, the alignment rails  130  may be formed by the tray body  110  such that the two are a single unitary body. In other embodiments, the rails may be formed separately from the tray body  110 , and may be fastened to the tray body  110 , to be disposed within the tray body  110 . 
     Several alignment rods  126  may be configured to couple with the alignment rails  130 . The alignment rods  126  may be a single piece of unitary material, with two extended shafts, connected by a perpendicular portion forming the rod into a “U” shape. The alignment rods  126  may be disposed in the alignment rails  130  at uniformly spaced intervals, and each extended shaft may engage a corresponding opening in an alignment rail  130 . As can be appreciated, the size of the interval between alignment rods  126  may vary, as well as the length of each extended shaft of a particular alignment rod  126 . Moreover, the flattened portion of an alignment rod may be of any suitable length for the arrangement of alignment rod openings disposed in the alignment rail  130  of the document tray  100 . 
     The alignment rods  126  may be configured by their diameter, length, or shape to couple with the corresponding clips  136 . The rods  126  may further be configured to facilitate marginal movement of the clips  136  along the length of the rod  126 , particularly for insertion into and removal of a document storage sleeve  12 , when the clip  136  and rod  126  must be coupled/decoupled. For a particular embodiment, a document storage sleeve  12  may be removed by marginally bending the sleeve  12  and sliding the corresponding clips  136  inward, or away from the alignment rails  130 , along the length of their respective alignment rods  126 . The document storage sleeves may be removed from their respective fasteners/clips  136  by any suitable method of removal, such as snapping, traveling a marginal distance along a coupling rail, or otherwise disengaging the document storage sleeves from a suitable method of pivotal coupling. As can be appreciated, the alignment rods  126  may be made of any suitably rigid material, such as metal, metal alloy, or plastic. 
     Some embodiments may include one or more clips  136  configured to couple with the plurality of storage sleeves to pivotally couple the sleeves with the tray body  110 . These clips  136  may be configured by their dimensions such that the U-clip body may be of a rectangular shape. As can be appreciated, the clips  136  may be of any suitable shape, such as triangular, circular, ring, or polygonal. The clips  136  may be made of metal, plastic, or any other suitably rigid and durable material. 
     The clips  136  may also include two extended members, configured to couple with a document storage sleeve. The clips  136  may be configured to form two lumens that may receive an alignment rod  126 . The clip lumens may be formed by a folded or otherwise shaped portion of the material of the clip itself, in order to facilitate coupling with a corresponding alignment rod  126 . The clip lumens may receive the corresponding alignment rod  126  and pivotally couple the clip  136  with the alignment rails  130 , in which the alignment rod  126  is disposed. With the alignment rod  126  and the corresponding clip  136  coupled, the clip  136  may pivotally couple a document storage sleeve  12  with the tray body  110 . As can be appreciated, a document storage sleeve  12  may be coupled to the document storage tray  100  by more than one clip  136 , with at least one clip  136  coupling with each of the two alignment rails  130  disposed in the document tray body  110 . Thus, a document storage sleeve  12  may be pivotally coupled with the tray body  110 , with the document storage sleeves  10  aligned. 
     As can be appreciated, the clips  136  may couple with the document storage sleeves  10  by any suitable method for that particular clip or pin. In one embodiment the clips  136  may couple with the lateral edges of a storage sleeve. More specifically, the clip may couple with the two edges of the folded sleeve that are disposed opposite the folded edge of the sleeve. To couple the clips  136  with the storage sleeve, the two folded extensions of the clip  136  may be fed through the corresponding holes disposed in the storage sleeve. 
     The folded extensions of a clip  136  may facilitate securing the clip  136  to a document storage sleeve  12  and may prevent unintended decoupling of the clip  136  and sleeve  12 . In some embodiments, the extensions of the clip  136  may initially be orthogonal, forming a 90-degree angle with the clip body. The extended members may be inserted into the corresponding holes in the document storage sleeve  12 , and later folded to pinch or otherwise secure the document storage sleeve  12 . In other embodiments, the clip extensions may be previously folded to secure a document storage sleeve coupled with the clip  36 . Any suitable configuration of a clip/fastener may join the two separate edges of a folded sheet to form the document storage sleeve. 
     The plurality of clips/fasteners  136  may be pivotally coupled with corresponding alignment rods  126  to fix the position of the clips  136  relative to the alignment rails  130 . One or more clips  136  may secure a sleeve to the document storage tray  100 . One or more clips may be coupled with an alignment rail  130 , and at least one other clip may be coupled with the other alignment rail  130 . As described previously, a document storage sleeve and its corresponding clips  136  may pivot or rotate relative to the tray body  110 , allowing a user to browse the document storage sleeves  10  without removing any sleeves or substantially altering their alignment. 
     As can be appreciated, other suitable methods of coupling the document storage sleeves  10  and tray body  110  are considered. In other embodiments, the clips  136  may be replaced by pins that may be used to secure the storage sleeves to the tray body  110 . A pin may engage with a corresponding fixture disposed in the tray body  110 , or wrap around a corresponding alignment rod  126  disposed in an alignment rail  130 . The pin may extend through a corresponding hole disposed in a document storage sleeve  12 . The coupling pin may include a pin head of sufficient size to couple with the hole disposed in the document storage sleeve, but may be marginally larger than the corresponding hole. Thus, the pin head may facilitate securing the storage sleeve to the pin. 
     The document storage tray  100  may be configured such that the order of any two document storage sleeves, of the plurality of storage sleeves, can be interchanged. Specifically, two storage sleeves may be decoupled from their corresponding coupling clips  136 . One of the decoupled storage sleeves may be coupled with one of the now vacant sets of clips  136 , with the second storage sleeve likewise recoupled with the second vacant set of clips  136 . Thus, the two storage sleeves may interchange their order or arrangement within the plurality of storage sleeves without removing the documents from their respective sleeves. Moreover, the document storage sleeves  10  may be completely or partially reordered or otherwise rearranged in any suitable manner according to the means of coupling the storage sleeves with the document tray body  110 . 
       FIG. 7  depicts another embodiment of a document storage tray  200  that can resemble the document storage tray  100  described above in certain respects, and that can be compatible with the document storage sleeves  10 . Accordingly, like features are designated with like reference numerals, with the leading digits incremented to “2.” Relevant disclosure set forth above regarding similarly identified features thus may not be repeated hereafter. Moreover, specific features of the document storage tray  200  may not be shown or identified by a reference numeral in the drawings or specifically discussed in the written description that follows. However, such features may clearly be the same, or substantially the same, as features depicted in other embodiments and/or described with respect to such embodiments. Accordingly, the relevant description of such features applies equally to the features of the document storage tray  200 . Any suitable combination of the features and variation of the same described with respect to the document storage tray  100  can be employed with the document storage tray  200 , and vice versa. 
       FIG. 7  is an exploded side perspective view of a document storage tray  200 , according to one embodiment. The document storage tray  200  may include one or more alignment fixtures  230  formed in the tray body  210 . 
     The figure is one embodiment in which the alignment rails are substituted with several coupling fixtures  230  that may couple with the clips  236  directly. In certain embodiments, the alignment fixtures  230  may be connected to the interior of the tray body  210 , or the tray body  210  may form the alignment fixtures  230  directly. The alignment fixtures  230  are configured to directly receive or couple with corresponding clips/pins  236 . 
     As shown, the planar surface  208  may be recessed for document storage. Because the planar surface  208  is recessed, the tray body may form a plurality of walls around the recessed planar region. These walls may be used as alignment rails. In some embodiments, the recessed planar surface  208  may be angled relative to the document storage tray  200 . For example, the angle of the recessed planar region may have a slope equivalent to the tapered stack of document storage sleeves. In another embodiment, a panel support may be formed from an angled wall at a deep end of the recessed planar surface  208 . 
     The above description provides numerous specific details for a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the specific details may be omitted, or other methods, components, or materials may be used. In some cases, operations are not shown or described in detail. Additionally, features or elements described in conjunction with any one embodiment may be adapted for use with and/or combined with the features of any other embodiment.