Patent Application
20080238085
This invention relates, in general, to folders, dividers, and mailers.
There has been a vast increase in the amount of information transmitted, stored, filed, and organized electronically due to continually faster, more powerful, and more sophisticated computing technology.
Nevertheless, the ever-increasing number of private parcel carriers, such as Federal Express®, United Parcel Service®, and DHL®, the increasing number of mail services offered by these private carriers as well as the increasing number of mail services offered by the United States Postal Service, demonstrate that businesses, individuals, and other entities continue to generate, receive and send enormous volumes of paper.
Widespread use of paper remains and is likely to remain for a long time, for a number of reasons. First, there are some entities that simply do not have or use computers. Second, because of the unreliability of some computing technology, many times it is desirable or even imperative to generate, maintain, and transmit back-up, “hard copies” of electronically stored, received or transmitted data such as contracts, estate documents, patent and trademark applications, etc. Last, some information is available only in hard copy.
This vast amount of information generated and sent in hard copy format costs businesses and individuals a great deal of time and money to manage, organize and send. In an effort to reduce these costs and use of valuable resources, various products and methods have been introduced. While these products have been somewhat helpful, they have many deficiencies.
The following outlines products for efficiently storing and organizing paper information. Discussed thereafter are products for efficiently transmitting paper information.
Products for Efficiently Storing Information:
Products for storing information are printable folders and paper dividers for binders, each having protruding tabs. The tabs are usually printable and are affixed to the right-hand edge of the front face of the folder or divider, from which the tab protrudes outward. Because the tab is printable, a user can affix an identifying mark upon the tab to identify the contents of the folder or information located around the paper divider. Because the tab protrudes from an edge of the folder or divider, it can be seen more easily in the midst of other folders or papers of similar dimensions, thereby allowing a user to more easily identify and locate a particular folder or section of information without examining its contents.
These tabbed folders and dividers are helpful but suffer from major disadvantages. First, they do not assist a user in locating a document if that document was placed in the wrong folder. This happens often because many times, the person filing the information is unfamiliar with the nature of the document and files it in an improper place. Even if the person filing is familiar with its contents, he or she may misfile it due to human error. Second, these folders do not also assist with the efficient transmission of the document.
There are also removable tabs, which provide many of the advantages of the tabbed folders and dividers, with the added advantage of allowing a user to set up his or her filing system by affixing the removable tab to various folders and dividers. These products are helpful but also suffer from major disadvantages. Namely, the tabs are separate from the document and therefore, must be secured by a user. This requires a great deal of human effort and resources. Furthermore, the tabs detach especially when the document is stored among many other documents or frequently removed and re-filed. Also, these tabbed documents do not assist with the efficient transmission of information.
Products for Efficiently Transmitting Information:
Various types of mailers provide for more efficient and less costly transmission of information. These mailers generally consist of a printable form that is capable of being easily converted into an envelope. In other words, the document(s) and the mailing apparatus are one and the same thereby eliminating the need for a separate document and envelope.
The existing products are helpful but suffer from at least one major disadvantage. Namely, they do not assist with the proper and efficient storage and location of the information located on the mailer. After an entity receives the mailer, there is a great likelihood that it will be misfiled. Further, these mailers generally, do not allow for easy storage in a binder, such as a three-ring binder, because they generally do not contain apertures.
In light of the aforementioned products and their respective deficiencies, there is a need for a printable form having a printable tab protruding from the printable form at various locations, wherein the tab is securely affixed to the printable form and therefore, does not have be manually affixed to the printable form and is more secure. It is also desirable for such a product to be easy and efficient to create and transmit information.
The present invention satisfies these needs. The present invention is a printable form comprising a sheet of material of a predetermined size having front and back faces and top, bottom, and left and right lateral edges, and a portion of at least one of the lateral edges scored to define a tab of a predetermined size.
The present invention is also a method of using the printable form wherein a sender prints information on the sheet of material of predetermined size and then converts it to a mailer by printing a mailing address on the back face of the sheet of material of predetermined size, placing postage on the back face of the sheet of material of predetermined size, placing the printable form so that the front face faces upward, folding the sheet of material of predetermined size, and affixing the folded sheets of material together.
The present invention is also a method for creating a printable form comprising acquiring a sheet of material of a predetermined size having front and back faces and top, bottom, and left and right lateral edges, puncturing a portion of at least one lateral edge to define a tab of a predetermined size, and puncturing a portion of at least one lateral edge to create an aperture of a predetermined size.
As used below, the terms “printing” and “marking” refer to any letters, numbers, other symbols or colors, etc. placed upon the present invention. Printing or marking may be through various methods, such as manually; i.e., by hand or through use of a printing machine. “Printable” or “markable” refers to the ability to accept and maintain such printing or marking.
The present invention is described below more specifically with reference to various, preferred embodiments. The following descriptions of preferred embodiments are presented for illustration and description only and are not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. For example,
The following is a discussion of the present invention with reference to the drawings:
The present invention may be used for storage and filing information. However, it is preferred that the present invention is also used for correspondence. Outlined below is the preferred procedure for using the printable form.
A sender selects a printable sheet of material of a predetermined size 20 having a printable tab 80. The sender prints, on the tab 80 and/or the scored portions 90, 100, information that identifies the correspondence information 180 to be printed on the body of the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20. Alternatively, the sender selects a sheet of material 20 that has a tab 80 and/or scored portions 90, 100 with this identifying information pre-printed thereon. The sender then prints correspondence information 180 on the sheet of material of predetermined size 20, which preferably, creates an embodiment similar to that shown in
It is preferred that a sender then turns this printable form into a mailer 200 similar to that shown in
The sender prints a mailing address 150 and a return address 160 on the back face 140 of the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20, which creates an embodiment similar to that shown in
The sender removes a releasable layer (not shown) that covers an adhesive 130 located on the front face 10 of the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20.
As shown in
The sender then transmits the mailer 200 to a receiver, who receives and stores the printable form as outlined below. The below sequence of steps is preferred and the mailer may be received and used through other methods or through the below steps in varying sequence.
A receiver unfolds the mailer by gently separating the folded bottom edge 40 of the back face 140 of the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20 from the adhesive 130. The receiver then separates the scored 70 portion 90 and if appropriate, the second 100 scored 70 portion. This exposes the printable tab 80, which now, extends from the surrounding edge of the sheet of material of predetermined size 20, as shown in
If appropriate, the receiver punches either the side 110 or top 120 apertures depending upon his or her storage or filing system or apparatus. For example, the receiver may wish to remove the left edge 50 side 110 apertures if its storage apparatus is a traditional three-ring binder.
The receiver then examines the correspondence 180, and/or the information on the printable tab 80 or scored 70 printable, removable portions 90, 100 and uses this information to determine the proper location in which to file the correspondence. The receiver then files the printable form so that the tab 80 is clearly visible among similarly sized papers, which allows for easy retrieval.
The printable form of the present invention may be created by various methods. The preferred method is disclosed below.
A creator acquires a printable sheet of material of a predetermined size 20, punctures the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20 so as to create a portion 90, scored 70 to define a printable tab 80. A creator then punctures the printable sheet of material of a predetermined size 20 so as to create apertures 110 defined by scoring 70. Optionally, a creator punctures the sheet of material of a predetermined size 20 so as to create a second 100 scored 70 portion further defining a tab 80 or top apertures 120. Optionally, a creator prints on the scored 70 areas 90, 100 or tab 80.
Thus, the present invention provides all of the advantages previously discussed. First, the tab 80 is part of the sheet of material of predetermined size 20 and therefore, is securely affixed to the document and does not have to be affixed manually. Second, because the tab 80 is printable and affixed to the document itself, rather than a file in which the document is located, the document is easily filed or located or restored to its proper location when misfiled. Third, because the present invention is easily converted to a mailer, it is more cheaply, easily and efficiently sent, received and stored. Finally, the printable form is easily created and manufactured.
