Folder apparatus

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6692029
  • Patent Number
    6,692,029
  • Date Filed
    Friday, March 22, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 17, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
A folder apparatus includes a folder, a holder for holding leaves and a connector for attaching the holder to the folder in a detachable manner. The holder includes a number of hooks formed thereon. The folder includes two covers and an intermediate panel interconnecting the covers. The connector is formed on the intermediate panel. In a first aspect, the holder includes a base attached to the intermediate panel in a detachable manner by means of the connector. The base includes two ends. The connector includes two clips formed on the intermediate panel for engagement with the ends of the base of the holder. In a second aspect, the connector is a hook-and-loop device.
Description




BACKGROUND OF INVENTION




1. Field of Invention




The present invention is related to a folder and, more particularly, to a folder apparatus being capable of holding various types of leaves.




2. Related Prior Art




Folders are used in offices to hold leaves of documents. Referring to

FIG. 7

, a conventional folder


1


is shown. The conventional folder


1


includes two covers (not numbered) connected with each other via an intermediate panel


2


. A holder


3


is secured to the intermediate panel


2


by means of three rivets


4


. Two pairs of hooks


5


are mounted on the holder


3


. The conventional folder


1


is capable of holding leaves with two holes defined therein. However, there are various types of leaves. Each type includes a different number of holes defined therein. A leaf in which a number of holes are defined can only be held by means of a conventional folder equipped with the same number of pairs of hooks. For instance, a leaf in which four holes are defined can only be held by means of a conventional folder equipped with four pairs of hooks. A leaf in which twelve holes are defined can only be held by means of a conventional folder equipped with twelve pairs of hooks. To hold different types of leaves, different conventional types of folders must be used, thus increasing the cost for management of documents.





FIG. 8

is a top view of a box (not numbered) containing a few conventional folders


1


. As mentioned, the holder


3


is secured to the intermediate panel


2


of each conventional folder


1


, thus inevitably keeping an edge of a cover from an edge of the other cover by a distance identical to the width of the intermediate panel


2


. Each conventional folder


1


cannot be further folded, i.e., a cover cannot be moved against the other cover. Thus, only a few conventional folders


1


can be packed in a box for storage. The cost for storing and/or transportation of such conventional folders is inevitably high.




The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in use, storage and/or transportation of conventional folders.




SUMMARY OF INVENTION




It is an objective of the present invention to provide a folder apparatus that is capable of holding various types of leaves.




It is another objective of the present invention to provide a folder apparatus that is foldable so that a large number of such folder apparatuses can be packed in a box.




In the present invention, a folder apparatus includes a folder, a holder for holding leaves and a connector for attaching the holder to the folder in a detachable manner. The holder includes a number of hooks formed thereon. The folder includes two covers and an intermediate panel interconnecting the covers. The connector is formed on the intermediate panel.




In a first aspect, the holder includes a base attached to the intermediate panel in a detachable manner by means of the connector. The base includes two ends. The connector includes two clips formed on the intermediate panel for engagement with the ends of the base of the holder.




In a second aspect, the connector is a hook-and-loop device.




Other objectives, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention is described through detailed illustration of embodiments referring to the attached drawings wherein:





FIG. 1

is an exploded view of a folder apparatus of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the folder apparatus of the present invention equipped with a first type of holder for holding leaves of a first type;





FIG. 3

is a perspective view of the folder apparatus of the present invention equipped with a second type of holder for holding leaves of a second type;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of the folder apparatus of the present invention equipped with a third type of holder for holding leaves of a third type;





FIG. 5

is an exploded view of a folder apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a top view of a box containing a large number of folder apparatuses of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of a conventional folder; and





FIG. 8

is a top view of a box containing a small number of conventional folders.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIG. 1

, according to the present invention, a folder apparatus includes a folder


10


, a holder


20


and a connector


30


for attaching the holder


20


to the folder


10


in a detachable manner.




The folder


10


includes two covers


11


connected with each other via an intermediate panel


12


.




The holder


20


includes a base


21


. The base


21


may be a laminate consisting of a first strip (not numbered) and a second strip (not numbered). The first strip is secured to the second strip by means of three rivets (not numbered). The second strip includes two ends


22


. Two pairs of hooks


23


are formed on the first strip of the base


21


. A holder of this type is suitable for holding leaves that include two holes defined therein.




The connector


30


includes two clips


31


formed on the intermediate panel


12


at two ends. Thus, a space


32


is defined between each of the clips


31


and the intermediate panel


12


.




To attach the holder


20


to the folder


10


, the base


21


made with elasticity is bent so that its ends


22


can be inserted into the spaces


32


as shown in FIG.


2


. After the insertion of the ends


22


in the spaces


32


, the base


21


is released so that the ends


22


are engaged with the clips


31


. Thus, the holder


20


is attached to the folder


10


. It is obvious that the holder


20


can be removed from the folder


10


easily.




Referring to

FIG. 3

, the folder


10


is equipped with another type of holder


20


′ on which four pairs of hooks


23


are formed. The holder


20


′ is suitable for holding leaves that include four holes defined therein.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, the folder


10


is equipped with another type of holder


20


″ on which twelve pairs of hooks


23


are formed. The holder


20


″ is suitable for holding leaves that include twelve holes defined therein.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, a folder apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention includes a folder


10


, a holder


20


and a connector


30


′ for attaching the holder


20


to the folder


10


in a detachable manner. The folder


10


and the bolder


20


will not be described in detail with respect to this embodiment since they have been described in detail with reference to the embodiments of

FIGS. 1-4

. The connector


30


′ is a hook-and-loop device. The hook-and-loop device consists of a first strip


33


and a second strip


34


. The first strip


33


is secured to the intermediate panel


12


on a side and formed with a number of hooks or loops (not numbered) on an opposite side. The second strip


34


is secured to the base


21


on a side and formed with a number of loops or hooks (not numbered) on an opposite side. Thus, the first strip


33


can be engaged with and disengaged from the second strip


34


, i.e., the holder


20


can be attached to and detached from the folder


10


. The hook-and-look device is conventional and therefore will not be described in detail.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, a large number of folder apparatuses of the present invention can be packed in a box. Before the folder apparatuses are packed in the box, each of them is dissembled, i.e., the holder


20


is removed from the folder


10


and the folder


10


is completely folded. The term “completely folded” means that a cover


11


is moved against the other cover


11


and the intermediate panel


12


for each folder apparatus. The completely folded folders


10


and the holders


20


are packed in the box. Thus, a large number of folder apparatuses of the present invention can be packed in a box.




The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration. Those skilled in the art can derive a lot of variations from these embodiments after a study of this patent specification. Therefore, these embodiments shall by no means limit the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention can only be defined in the claims attached to and taken as a portion of this patent specification.



Claims
  • 1. A folder apparatus including a folder, a holder for holding leaves and a connector for attaching the holder to the folder in a detachable manner, wherein the holder includes a base attached to the folder in a detachable manner by the connector, wherein the base includes two ends, wherein the connector includes two clips formed on the folder for engagement in a detachable manner with the ends of the base of the holder.
  • 2. The folder apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the holder includes a number of hooks formed thereon.
  • 3. The folder apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the holder includes two pairs of hooks formed thereon.
  • 4. The folder apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the holder includes four pairs of hooks formed thereon.
  • 5. The folder apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the holder includes twelve pairs of hooks formed thereon.
  • 6. The folder apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the folder includes two covers and an intermediate panel interconnecting the covers.
  • 7. The folder apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the connector is formed on the intermediate panel with the two clips formed on the intermediate panel.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
1427397 Kilfoyle Aug 1922 A
1683238 Cardoza Sep 1928 A
2888934 Segal Jun 1959 A
4571109 Lapertosa Feb 1986 A
4681474 Wiberg Jul 1987 A
5120149 Smith Jun 1992 A
5718530 Tibbetts Feb 1998 A
6419416 Tomoda Jul 2002 B1