Patent Publication Number: US-6213670-B1

Title: Binders with a foldable pocket assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention relates generally to a binder with a foldable pocket assembly. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The carrying capacity of binders is generally limited to the space between its front and back covers. To increase the carrying capacity of binders, the binders are simply made bigger. That is, the size of the covers are either made bigger or the spine between the covers is made wider. Simply making bigger binders however has number of shortcomings. For example, bigger binders would weigh and cost more, and make it more cumbersome to carry around and store. 
     To better utilize the space between the covers, some binders have pockets inside the covers. However, these interior pockets are not economically utilized. That is, once the covers of the binder are closed there is a void or space between the front cover and the papers being held by the three ring holder mechanism. The void exists because the three ring holder mechanism generally protrudes out from the spine or the back cover so that the papers slope down against the back cover, and the negative slope of the papers forms a void or space between the paper and the front cover. Some binders do have interior pockets on the inside of the covers, but these pockets do not take full advantage of the void, because the interior pockets do not bulge or expand to take advantage of the void. In other words, the pockets are attached to the cover around at least three of the edges of the pockets so that the pockets are held close to the cover and cannot bulge or expand into the void. 
     Furthermore, because at least three edges of the pockets are attached to the cover, flexibility, expandability and security are not fully available. Accordingly, there are no secret pockets to hide sensitive items so that they are securely held in a confidential location. 
     Accordingly, there still is a need for a binder that makes more efficient use of the space between the covers to carry more items by taking advantage of the void left between the cover and the papers held in the three ring binder mechanism, and to have some secure secret pockets to hide sensitive items. 
     OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A general object of the present invention is to make more efficient use of the void left between the cover and the papers held in the three ring binder to increase the carrying capacity of the binder. Yet another objective is to provide some pockets that are hidden so that sensitive items may be more securely held in the hidden pockets. These and other objectives are accomplished by providing a binder with a front and back covers, and a spine coupling the front and back covers along a front fold line and a back fold line, respectively; and a pocket assembly having a top edge, a bottom edge, a left edge, and a right edge defining outer edges of the pocket assembly, wherein the top edge of the pocket assembly is coupled to the front cover of the binder, wherein the pocket assembly has a top portion and a bottom portion defined by a fold line, wherein the bottom portion of the pocket assembly is foldable along the fold line and adapted to hold the bottom portion adjacent to the top portion of the pocket assembly. 
     In accordance with a broad aspect of the invention, the objectives may be accomplished by providing a binder with a front and back covers; and a pocket having outer edges defining the pocket, wherein the pocket is coupled to the front cover of the binder along not more than two of the outer edges of the pocket, and wherein the pocket is foldable and is adapted to be releasably held in a folded position. 
     The above described features of the present invention and many other of its attendant advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the interior of a binder in an open position with an exemplary foldable pocket assembly within the binder; 
     FIG. 2 is an interior view of the front cover of a binder with an exemplary foldable pocket assembly raised over the front cover showing the back side of the foldable pocket assembly; 
     FIG. 3 is an interior view of the front cover of a binder with an exemplary foldable pocket assembly in a folded position; and 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary foldable pocket assembly along cross-section  4 — 4  of FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Disclosed herein is a detailed description of a best presently known modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention. The section titles and overall organization of the present detailed description are for the purpose of convenience only and are not intended to limit the present invention. 
     As illustrated for example in FIG. 1, a binder  10  is shown, which is constructed to hold standard size sheets of 8½ by 11 inches, or A-4 size paper. The binder  10  includes a spine  12 , a front cover  14 , and a back cover  16  connected to the opposite edges of the spine  12 , along fold lines  18  and  20 , respectively. The front and back covers and the spine define the outer edges of the binder  10 , i.e., a front edge  22 , back edge  24 , top edge  26 , and bottom edge  28 . The front and back covers  14 , 16  have a preferred width of about eleven inches and height of about thirteen inches. The binder  10  may also be sized to accommodate paper sheets larger or smaller than 8½ by 11 inches. For example, typical carry-type organizers and calendars are usually about 5 inches by 7 inches, while binders for photo albums can be about 12 inches by 15 inches. 
     The front and back covers and the spine each has an inner base (not shown) to give the respective covers and the spine a body with the dimensions as discussed above. The respective inner bases provide structural support, yet they are somewhat flexible so that the covers are able to contour around the items being held with some resistance. The inner base is preferably made of suitable paper board or other suitable material. The respective inner bases are also enclosed by a suitable material that is known to one who is ordinarily skilled in the art to form an outer covering; preferably a fabric, nylon or plastic sheet material is used to enclosed the inner bases. Still further, a thin foam layer (not shown) may be provided between the inner base and the enclosed fabric to give the binder a softer feel. 
     As illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 1 through 4, the binder  10  has an exemplary foldable pocket assembly  30  (hereinafter assembly  30 ) on the interior side of the binder, which may be over stuffed to efficiently utilize the space between the front cover and the papers on the three ring holder mechanism. The assembly  30  includes a first portion  32  and a second portion  34  divided by a fold line  36 . The combination of the first and second portions  32 ,  34  define the assembly  30  with a top edge  38 , bottom edge  40 , left edge  42  and right edge  44 . Preferably, the assembly as defined by the edges substantially extends along the height of the front cover to maximize the carrying capacity of the pockets. The assembly as illustrated in FIG. 1, in the unfolded position shows the front side of the assembly  30 . In FIG. 2, the assembly  30  is raised over the binder to illustrate the backs side of the assembly. Preferably, the assembly is coupled to the front cover of the binder along the top edge  38 , with other three edges  40 ,  42 , and  44  unattached to the front cover. However, it is within the scope of the present invention to couple the assembly to the binder along any one of the edges, i.e.  40 ,  42 , or  44 . Alternatively, the assembly may be coupled to the binder along any of the two adjacent edges, so that when the assembly is folded, it forms a triangular-shaped folded pocket assembly. 
     Preferably, the assembly has a plurality of pockets, each serving different functions. For example, the first portion  32  on the front side may include a first pocket  50  substantially encompassing the first portion. The outer edges of the first pocket may be sealed, except in one edge to leave an opening  52  to allow a user to insert and take out a particular item from the first pocket  50 . In this embodiment, the first pocket has the opening along the top edge  38  of the assembly. Alternatively, the opening  52  may be adjacent to any of the other edges  42 ,  44 , or even the fold line  36 . Likewise, the second portion  34  may have a second pocket  54  with an opening  56  adjacent to the fold line  36  or adjacent to any other edges  40 ,  42 , and  44 . 
     One of the advantage with above construction is that the pockets  50 ,  54  may be hidden from non-users to secretly store items which may be sensitive if found. As best illustrated in FIG. 4, once the first and second pockets are filled, the second portion may be folded along the fold line and held adjacent to the first portion, thereby concealing the first and second pockets from others. The second portion  34  is preferably held adjacent to the first portion  32  by a VELCRO hook and loop system  68  and  68 ′, as best shown in FIG.  4 . Furthermore, another secret pocket, a third pocket  58 , may be formed on the back side of the first portion of the assembly  30 , as illustrated by way of example in FIG.  2 . Like other pockets, an opening  60  may be formed along any of the edges,  38 ,  42 ,  44 , or along the fold line  36 . Preferably, the opening  52  is formed adjacent the top edge  38 . In particular, even when the assembly  30  is in the unfolded position, the third pocket is not exposed to non-users, so that a user may secretly hold sensitive items in the third pocket. 
     Another advantages with coupling the assembly  30  to the front cover along one of the edges is that the pockets in the assembly  30  may be overstuffed to take full advantage of the void or space between the front cover and the papers in the three ring holder mechanism. The pockets in the assembly  30  may be over stuffed and bulge out because only the top edge  38  is coupled to the front cover with other three edges free to expand outwardly. To properly align the assembly, the right edge  44  is preferably coupled to the inside of the front cover approximately 1 to 4 inches left from the fold line  18  so that as the front cover is closed the assembly  30  is juxtaposed to the papers held by the three ring mechanism and not over the three ring mechanism. Accordingly, the overstuffed pockets in the assembly are alinged to fill the void left between the front cover and the papers in the three ring mechanism. Once the pockets are filled the second portion of the assembly may be either left unfolded or folded up, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively, before closing the binder. Alternatively, the assembly  30  may be also coupled to the back cover. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, along with the pockets, a pen holder  64  may be formed on the front of the assembly  30  to hold pens and pencils, for example. Alternatively, a plurality of pen holders  66  may be formed in the back side of the second portion of the assembly, as illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
     The openings  52 ,  56  are preferably adapted with a closure mechanism, such as a zipper or VELCRO hook and loop system to open and close the openings to securely hold the items in the pockets. To easily verify the items being held in the pockets, some pockets may be made of transparent material or meshed fabric; while other pockets with more sensitive items may be made of non-transparent materials. 
     With regard to material, the pockets should be flexible and may be of resilient or expandable material to contour around the shapes of the items being held, yet the material should be elastic enough to return to its original shape once the items are removed. Furthermore, the material may be transparent or opaque or of mesh material, so that a user can see whether a particular item is within the pocket. Further, the pockets are preferably treated with UV coating to protect against harmful effects of the ultra violet rays from the sun. In this regard, the pockets may be made of fabric, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, and Nylon, for example, or they may be made from other materials exhibiting the qualities discussed above that are known to one ordinarily skilled in the art. 
     To have an aesthetically pleasing appearance, for example, the pockets may be provided with a liner (thin strip)  62  to contour around the assembly to provide a smooth high quality finish around the edges of the pockets. 
     As noted in FIG. 3, for example, a lower conventional pocket  70  may be provided. Instead of the pocket  70 , an additional foldable pocket may be provided, substantially identical to the pocket assembly  30 , to take better advantage of the available space. This additional pocket may be secured along any one of its four sides, but would preferably be oriented in the same direction as pocket assembly  30 . 
     As another alternative (not shown), the foldable pocket may be substantially twice the size of the foldable pocket assembly  30 , and may be secured along the left edge of the front cover with the notebook oriented as shown in FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 . This alternative would have the pocket assembly when folded, occupy most of the space between the paper and the front cover of the binder. 
     Still another alternative embodiment is to have a large single pocket that may be foldable along the center line, and adapted to be releasably held in the folded position. In this embodiment, the large single pocket may be coupled to the front cover along any one of its edges. When unfolded, such a large pocket may have an extent substantially equal to the front cover of the binder. 
     Although the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments above, numerous modifications or additions to the above-described preferred embodiments would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. Thus, by way of example and not of limitation, the pockets may be formed inside of a variety of binders such as a typical carry-type organizers which are usually about five inches by seven inches, while binders for photo albums can be about twelve inches by fifteen inches. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments illustrated and described hereinabove. With respect to the claims, it is applicant&#39;s intention that the claims not be interpreted in accordance with the sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112 unless the term “means” is used followed by a functional statement.