Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6558063
-
Patent Number
6,558,063
-
Date Filed
Friday, August 10, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 6, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 281 151
- 281 211
- 281 29
- 281 31
- 281 45
- 281 51
- 402 70
- 402 73
- 402 4
- 206 425
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
A document holder includes a flat base part, front and rear wall parts, a pair of lateral wall parts, and a cover part. Each of the front and rear wall parts extends upwardly from a respective one of front and rear edges of the base part. The lateral wall parts extend between the front and rear wall parts, and cooperate with the latter to confine a document holding space with an open top. The cover part is hinged to the rear wall part, is movable so as to cover and uncover the open top of the document holding space, and is formed with a window section that permits viewing into the document holding space when the latter is covered by the cover part.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a document holder, more particularly to a document holder that facilitates viewing of documents therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional document holder
1
is shown to comprise a flat base part
112
, front and rear wall parts
111
,
113
, a pair of lateral wall parts
115
, and a cover part
114
. The front and rear edges
1121
,
1122
of the base part
112
extend in a longitudinal direction, and are spaced apart in a transverse direction transverse to the longitudinal direction. Each of the front and rear wall parts
111
,
113
extends upwardly from a respective one of the front and rear edges
1121
,
1122
of the base part
112
. The lateral wall parts
115
are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, and are formed with a plurality of pleats
1153
. Each of the lateral wall parts
115
further extends in the transverse direction, is connected at one end
1152
to the front wall part
111
, and cooperates with the front and rear wall parts
111
,
113
to confine a document holding space
116
with an open top. A plurality of partition plates
1156
extend in the longitudinal direction, and have opposite ends connected respectively to the lateral wall parts
115
. The partition plates
1156
cooperate with the lateral wall parts
115
to divide the document holding space
116
into a plurality of volume variable spaces. The cover part
114
is hinged to a top edge
1131
of the rear wall part
113
, and is movable between a closed position, where the cover part
114
covers the open top of the document holding space
116
, as best illustrated in
FIG. 2
, and an open position, where the cover part
114
uncovers the open top of the document holding space
116
, as best shown in FIG.
1
. The front wall part
111
and the cover part
114
are provided with interlocking male and female fasteners
1141
,
1111
for retaining releasably the cover part
114
at the closed position.
In use, the male fastener
1141
on the cover part
114
is pulled apart from the female fastener
1111
on the front wall part
111
to permit movement of the cover part
114
to the open position. The documents are then put into the volume variable spaces of the document holding space
116
. After moving the cover part
114
to the closed position, the male fastener
1141
on the cover part
114
is brought to engage the female fastener
1111
on the front wall part
111
.
It is noted that the conventional document holder
1
has no window section to permit viewing of the documents inside when the cover part
114
is at the closed position, thereby resulting in inconvenience. In addition, although the conventional document holder
1
is provided with a wide document holding space
116
, no space is allocated for receiving accessories, such as pens, coins, cellular phones, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a document holder that is capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.
Accordingly, a document holder of this invention comprises a flat base part, front and rear wall parts, a pair of lateral wall parts, and a cover part. The flat base part has a front edge, a rear edge, a bottom surface, and a top surface opposite to the bottom surface. The front and rear edges extend in a longitudinal direction, and are spaced apart in a transverse direction transverse to the longitudinal direction. Each of the front and rear wall parts extends upwardly from a respective one of the front and rear edges of the base part. The lateral wall parts are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction. Each of the lateral wall parts extends in the transverse direction, is connected to at least one of the front and rear wall parts, and cooperates with the front and rear wall parts to confine a document holding space with an open top. The cover part is hinged to a top edge of the rear wall part, is movable between a closed position and an open position, and is formed with a window section. In the closed position, the cover part covers the open top of the document holding space. In the open position, the cover part uncovers the open top of the document holding space. The window section is registered with the open top of the document holding space and permits viewing into the document holding space when the cover part is disposed at the closed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of the conventional document holder;
FIG. 2
is a schematic side view of the document holder of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a document holder according to the present invention;
FIG. 4
is a schematic side view of the document holder of
FIG. 3
; and
FIG. 5
is another perspective view of the document holder of
FIG. 3
, but with a cover part thereof in a closed state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to
FIGS. 3
to
5
, the preferred embodiment of a document holder
2
according to the present invention is shown to comprise a flat base part
21
, front and rear wall parts
22
,
23
, a pair of lateral wall parts
27
, and a cover part
24
. The flat base part
21
has a front edge
211
, a rear edge
212
, a bottom surface
213
, and a top surface
214
opposite to the bottom surface
213
. The front and rear edges
211
,
212
extend in a longitudinal direction, and are spaced apart in a transverse direction transverse to the longitudinal direction.
Each of the front and rear wall parts
22
,
23
extends upwardly from a respective one of the front and rear edges
211
,
212
of the base part
21
. The front wall part
22
has an outer surface
221
opposite to the rear wall part
23
. The rear wall part
23
has a top edge
231
.
The lateral wall parts
27
are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction. Each of the lateral wall parts
27
further extends in the transverse direction, is connected at one end
271
to the front wall part
22
, is formed with a plurality of pleats
274
, and cooperates with the front and rear wall parts
22
,
23
to confine a document holding space
273
with an open top. A plurality of partition plates
275
extend in the longitudinal direction and have opposite ends connected respectively to the lateral wall parts
27
. The partition plates
275
cooperate with the lateral wall parts
27
to divide the document holding space
273
into a plurality of volume variable spaces
2732
. Moreover, each of the partition plates
275
has a top edge
2753
formed with a label tab
2754
.
The cover part
24
is hinged to the top edge
231
of the rear wall part
23
, is movable between a closed position and an open position, and is formed with a window section
241
. In the closed position, the cover part
24
covers the open top of the document holding space
273
. In the open position, the cover part
24
uncovers the open top of the document holding space
273
. The window section
241
, in this embodiment, is transparent and is made from a plastic material, such as polypropylene. The window section
241
is registered with the open top of the document holding space
273
and permits viewing into the document holding space
273
when the cover part
24
is disposed at the closed position. The label tabs
2754
on the top edges
2753
of the partition plates
275
are visible from an exterior of the document holder
2
via the window section
241
when the cover part
24
is disposed at the closed position, as best illustrated in FIG.
5
. The cover part
24
further has a front cover section
242
that extends from the window section
241
. The front cover section
242
has an outer surface
2421
and a recessed inner surface
2422
that is opposite to the outer surface
2421
, and that is disposed adjacent to the outer surface
221
of the front wall part
22
when the cover part
24
is at the closed position. The front cover section
242
and the bottom surface
213
of the base part
21
are provided with interlocking male and female fasteners
2423
,
215
for retaining releasably the cover part
24
at the closed position. The outer surface
2421
of the front wall part
22
is further provided with a number of accessory pouches
222
that extend into the recessed inner surface
2422
of the front cover section
242
when the cover part
24
is at the closed position, as best illustrated in FIG.
4
. The accessory pouches
222
are configured to receive pens, cards, coins, cellular phones, etc.
The preferred embodiment can be used in a manner substantially similar to that of the conventional document holder
1
. However, in the present invention, there is no need for the user to open the cover part
24
every time a document is to be retrieved. The user only has to look at the label tabs
2754
via the transparent window section
241
of the cover part
24
to know what is inside the document holder
2
, and opens the document holder
2
only if necessary.
The accessory pouches
222
extend into the recessed inner surface
2422
of the front cover section
242
when the cover part
24
is at the closed position. As such, the accessories in the accessory pouches
222
are not flattened by the front cover section
242
. In addition, because the accessory pouches
222
are disposed externally of the document holding space
273
, the presence of the accessory pouches
222
does not affect the capacity of the document holding space
273
.
Therefore, the document holder
2
of the present invention does not only have a wide document holding space
273
, but is also provided with a transparent window section
241
and label tabs
2754
to facilitate retrieval of documents, and a number of accessory pouches
222
to receive pens, cards, coins, cellular phones, etc.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Claims
- 1. A document holder comprising:a flat base part having front and rear edges that extend in a longitudinal direction and that are spaced apart in a transverse direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, a bottom surface, and a top surface opposite to said bottom surface; front and rear wall parts, each of which extends upwardly from a respective one of said front and rear edges of said base part, said front wall part having an outer surface opposite to said rear wall part, said rear wall part having a top edge; a pair of lateral wall parts spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, each of said lateral wall parts extending in the transverse direction and being connected to at least one of said front and rear wall parts, said lateral wall parts cooperating with said front and rear wall parts to confine a document holding space with an open top; and a cover part hinged to said top edge of said rear wall part and movable between a closed position, where said cover part covers said open top of said document holding space, and an open position, where said cover part uncovers said open top of said document holding space; wherein said cover part is formed with a window section that is registered with said open top of said document holding space and that permits viewing into said document holding space when said cover part is disposed at said closed position, and has a front cover section that extends from said window section and that is disposed adjacent to said outer surface of said front wall part when said cover part is at said closed position, said front cover section having an outer surface and a recessed inner surface opposite to said outer surface and disposed adjacent to said outer surface of said front wall part when said cover part is at said closed position; wherein said outer surface of said front wall part is provided with at least one accessory pouch that extends into said recessed inner surface of said front cover section when said cover part is at said closed position.
- 2. The document holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said lateral wall parts is formed with a plurality of pleats, said document holder further comprising a plurality of partition plates that extend in the longitudinal direction and that have opposite ends connected respectively to said lateral wall parts, said partition plates cooperating with said lateral wall parts to divide said document holding space into a plurality of volume variable spaces, each of said partition plates having a top edge formed with a label tab that is visible from an exterior of said document holder via said window section when said cover part is disposed at said closed position.
- 3. The document holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said front cover section and said bottom surface of said base part are provided with interlocking male and female fasteners for retaining releasably said cover part at said closed position.
- 4. The document holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said window section of said cover part is made from a transparent material.
- 5. The document holder as claimed in claim 4, wherein said transparent material is a plastic material.
- 6. The document holder as claimed in claim 5, wherein said plastic material is polypropylene.
US Referenced Citations (4)