The present invention relates sheet protectors for holding sheet material such a paper and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,866 assigned to Avery Dennison Corporation of Pasadena, Calif., described conventional fabrication techniques for sheet protectors, which patent in its entirety is incorporated herein by reference.
A conventional sheet protector 50 for holding a piece of sheet material 52 is shown in
To insert the paper 52 into the sheet protector 50, a person needs to align the leading edge of the paper 52 with the opening 60 and then to urge the paper 52 into the pocket 58. If the leading edge of the paper 52 is not aligned within the 3/16 tolerance, then the paper 52 will bind with one of the ends of the opening 60. Accordingly, care needs to be taken to ensure alignment of the paper 52 and the opening 60 in an otherwise relatively simple operation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a sheet protector that allows a relatively large degree of tolerance between the width of the opening of the pocket and the size of the sheet material being inserted into the pocket. The present invention satisfies this need.
The present invention relates to sheet protectors. The invention also relates to sheet protectors which are designed to facilitate the insertion of sheet material.
According to one embodiment of the invention and by way of example only, a sheet protector may include a front panel and a back panel attached together to form a pocket and a margin. The pocket may have an opening extending along a top edge of the panels. The margin may extend along a side of the pocket that is substantially orthogonal to the opening. The opening may extend a distance into the margin such that a width of the opening is greater than a width of the pocket. For example, the width of the opening may be at least about 2% greater than the width of the pocket.
According to another embodiment, a sheet protector may include a sheet of material folded about a fold line to form the front panel and the back panel, with each panel having a top edge, a bottom edge, and side edges. The panels may be welded together at a bottom weld line located along the bottom edges of the panels, at an outer weld line located along or near the side edges that are opposite the fold line, and at an inner weld line located in a spaced relationship from the outer weld line. A margin may then be defined between the outer and inner weld lines, and a pocket may be defined between the panels and within the fold line, the bottom weld line, and the inner line, with the opening being defined along the top edges of the panels. The inner weld line may extend to a location that is short of the top edges of the panels, such that the opening of the pocket extends a distance into the margin.
One of the advantages of the sheet protectors of the invention is that the opening of the pocket is significantly greater than the width of the sheet material to be inserted into the pocket. Accordingly, the likelihood of the sheet material binding on the edges of the opening is significantly reduced. In addition, particular care need not be taken when inserting sheet material into the pocket because of the relatively great tolerance between the size of the opening and the size of the sheet material.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring more particularly to
In a number of embodiments, the sheet protector 100 may include a front panel 102 and a back panel 104 attached together to form a pocket 106 and a margin 108. The pocket 106 may have an opening 110 extending along one side or edge of the panels, e.g., a top edge 112. The margin 108 may extend along a side of the pocket 106, which side is indicated by reference numeral 114 in
In some of the embodiments, the opening 110 may extend a distance into the margin 108 as indicated by reference alpha E, thereby resulting in a width WO of the opening 110 being greater than a width WP of the pocket 106. This relationship between the width WO of the opening 110 and the width WP of the pocket 106 is also shown in the embodiments of the sheet protectors 100 illustrated in
As an example of this relationship in the widths, embodiments in which the sheet protector 100 is configured for holding a standard sheet piece of paper measuring 8½ by 11 inches will be used (such as paper 52 of
In other embodiments, the sheet protector 100 may be described as including a sheet 116 of material folded about a fold line 118 to form the front panel 102 and the back panel 104. Each of the panels 102 and 104 may be described as having the top edge 112, a bottom edge 120, and side edges 122a and 122b. As shown in
In many embodiments, the panels 102 and 104 may be welded together at a bottom weld line 124 located along or near the bottom edges 120 of the panels, at an outer weld line 126 located along or near the side edges 122a that are opposite the fold line 118, and at an inner weld line 128 located in a spaced relationship from the outer weld line 126. The margin 108 may then be defined as being located either between the outer and inner weld lines 126 and 128 or between the inner weld line 128 and side edges 122a, the latter embodiment of which is illustrated in
In a number of embodiments, the inner weld line 128 may extend from, for example, the bottom weld line 124 to a location that is short of the top edges 112 of the panels 102 and 104, which is indicated by reference alpha I in
In the embodiment of the sheet protector 100 shown in
In many of the embodiments, the panels 102 and 104 may be welded together along a margin weld line 130 that may extend from the inner weld line 128 to the outer weld line 126. The margin weld line 130 may be substantially perpendicular to the weld lines 126 and 138 or, alternatively, may be angled with respect thereto as shown in the drawings.
As shown in the embodiment illustrated in
Referencing
In addition, the notch 134 may be angled between the top edges 112 and side edges 122a (as shown by notch 134 of the front panel 102 in
With reference to
Additional embodiments of the sheet protector 100 are shown in
In the embodiment shown in
Those skilled in the art will understand that the preceding embodiments of the present invention provide the foundation for numerous alternatives and modifications thereto. For example, rather than folding the sheet material 116 about the fold line 118, the sheet protector 100 may include two separate panels 102 and 104 that are welded along the entire extend of side edges 122b between the top edges 112 and the bottom edges 120. These other modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to that precisely as shown and described in the present invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050180810 A1 | Aug 2005 | US |