GB2232071A - Wallets - Google Patents

Abstract

A wallet having a front wall 12 connected to a rear wall 18 by a pair of side walls 14 and a bottom wall 16, the side and bottom walls being expandable (e.g. comprising gusset portions) to enable the front and rear walls to be spaced apart by a greater or lesser extent, the front wall being foldably connected to the rear wall by said bottom wall, the side walls being foldably connected to one of the front or rear walls and being connected to the other of the front or rear walls by latch means 67, 71, 66. The wallet may be formed from a single resilient sheet 50, and each latch means may comprise a tab 67, 71 insertable into a slit 66. The tab has latch projections 72 providing a maximum width of the tab that is greater than the length of the slit 66. In a modification, the side walls and bottom walls each comprise a single portion so as not to be expandable. <IMAGE>

Description

WALLET The present invention relates to a document wallet.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a wallet having a front wall connected to a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the side and bottom walls being expandable to enable the front and rear walls to be spaced apart by a greater or lesser extent, the front wall being foldably connected to the rear wall by said bottom wall, the side walls being foldably connected to one of the front or rear walls and being connected to the other of the front or rear wall by latch means.

Preferably all the walls and latch means are integrally formed from a single sheet of material.

Preferably a corner panel is foldably connected to each side edge of the bottom wall, the corner panel underlying the bottom portion of the adjacent sidewall to thereby define a closed bottom for the wallet.

Preferably the side and bottom walls include folded portions which are foldable to enable expansion.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a wallet formed from a single sheet of resilient material so as to have a front wall connected to a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the front wall being foldably connected to the rear wall by said bottom wall, the side walls being foldably connected to one of the front or rear walls and being connected to the other of the front or rear walls by latch means, the latch means comprising an integral tab which is insertable into a corresponding slit, the tab including a body portion bounded by side edges, -at least one side edge including a latch projection defining a maximum width of the tab which is greater than the corresponding width of the slit.

The sheet of material is preferably a plastics sheet such as polypropylene or polyethylene.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic general perspective view of a wallet according to the present invention Figure 2 is a more detailed schematic view of the corner construction, shown in a collapsed state Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the corner construction in an erected state Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of a blank for forming the wallet shown in Figure 1 Referring initially to Figures 1,2 and 3 there is shown an expandable wallet 10 for carrying stationery items such as folders, loose leaf sheets of paper, computer floppy discs etc.

The wallet 10 includes a front wall 12, foldable side and bottom walls 14, 16 respectively, a rear wall 18 and a cover flap 20 which is foldably connected to the rear wall 18.

The cover flap 20 and front wall 12 includes cooperable latch means 21 for releasably attaching the terminal end of the flap 20 to the front wall 12 and thereby close the access opening 25 to the wallet. In the illustrated embodiment the co-operable latch means 21 comprises a pair of tongues 26 which are insertable through co-operating slots 28 arranged in two rows 29 to enable latching of the flap 20 to the front wall 12 at different locations depending upon the spacing between the front and rear walls 12,18 resulting from filling of the wallet.

Preferably a flap portion 27 is provided associated with each tongue 26 so as to collectively form a lever which is joined to the cover flap 20 by narrow portions 29 and thereby enables the lever to be pivoted relative to the remainder of the flap 20 and thereby facilitate manipulation of the tongue 26 for insertion into a co-operating slot 28.

Alternative latch means such as clasps may be provided if desired. In addition the number of latch means 21 used may be varied depending upon the width of the cover flap 20.

Thus a single, centrally located latch means 21 may be provided for smaller widths or alternatively more than two latch means 21 may be provided for larger widths.

In the illustrated embodiment, the side walls 14 and bottom wall 16 each include at least one pair of folded wall portions 14a,16c respectively which enable the wallet to expand from a folded collapsed condition to a fully expanded condition. In the folded collapsed condition the wallet is substantially flat and occupies minimum space for storage and transportation.

It is to be appreciated that the sidewalls and bottom wall 16 may comprise a single wall portion so as to be relatively rigid and not foldable for expansion.

The wallet is erected from a blank 50 cut from a single sheet of material. The sheet material used is preferably a plastics material such as polypropylene or polyethylene of say 0.8 or 0.5 microns thickness.

The blank 50 is cut and scored to define various wall portions and connection means so as to enable the wallet to be erected to the condition illustrated in Figure 1 without the necessity of using separate attachment means such as staples or glue. This is highly desirable as it facilitates erection of the blank into a wallet and also provides maximum surface area for printing.

The blank 50 includes a rear wall forming panel 51, a cover flap forming panel 52, a pair of side walls forming panels 53, a bottom wall forming panel 54, a front wall forming panel 55, a pair of corner forming panels 56 and a pair of sidewall connection panels 58.

The front wall panel 55 is connected to the bottom wall panel 54 by a fold line 55a and the bottom wall panel 54 is connected to the front wall panel 51 by a fold line 51a.

Each side wall forming panel 53 is connected to the rear wall forming panel 51 by a fold line 59 and to a respective connection panel 58 via a fold line 60. A fold line 61 located in between fold lines 59 and 60 is provided for dividing the sidewall forming panel 53 into two foldable portions 53a.

Each connection panel 58 is provided with at least a pair of locking latch formations 62 for latching cooperation with latch formations 63 formed in the front wall forming panel 55. In the embodiment illustrated, latch formations 62 are in the form of a slit 66 and latch formations 63 are in the form of a tab 67. The tab 67 includes a body portion 70 bounded by side edges 71. Each side edge 71 has a latch projection 72 which in the illustrated embodiment is defined by the transition point between inclined side edge portions 71a,71b. The projections 72 define the maximum width of the body portion 70 and this is chosen to be greater than the corresponding width of the slit 66.Each projection 72 is preferably located adjacent to the root of the tab 67 and inclined side edge portions 71b are inclined obliquely relative to the longitudinal axis of the tab 67 and inclined side edge portions 71a are inclined acutely to the longitudinal axis of the tab 67.

In this way the tab tapers toward its terminal end and entry into the slit is facilitated. The side edge portions 71b act to enable resilient deformation to occur as the projections pass through the slit and thereafter the edge portions 71a act as shoulders to resist withdrawal of the tab.

Preferably the slits 61 have curved end portions 66a which thereby define a tongue 78. Tongue 78 is depressed on insertion of the tab and thereby defines an aperture for easy insertion of the tab.

Preferably latch means are provided adjacent both the top and bottom edge of the connection panels and are located close to the fold line.

If desired, additional latch means may be located inbetween the latch means positioned adjacent the top and bottom edges.

The blank includes corner panels which are foldably connected to the side edges of the bottom wall panel.

A fold line 80 located inbetween fold lines 54aha passes along the bottom wall panel and continues through both corner panels. Accordingly both the bottom wall panel and corner panels may be folded to provide expandable panels.

In the erected wallet, each corner panel 56 underlies the bottom portion of the adjacent sidewall panel. In order to enable the corner panels to be folded to this position (ie perpendicular to the bottom panel) two fold lines 82,83 are provided in the bottom wall panel which define therebetween a corner gusset 95.

Fold lines 82,83 and the portion of fold line 80 passing through the gusset 95 are created so as to weaken the material to substantially reduce resilience about those fold lines. This may be achieved by a scored line and a series of fine perforations. In this way folding of the corner gusset to a tucked or collapsed position when erecting the wallet is facilitated and in addition opening movement of the gusset from its tucked position to a fully expanded position whereat it lies co-planar with the bottom wall panel is also facilitated. The gusset when located in its fully expanded position serves to resist inward collapse of the sidewalls. During expansion of the wallet, the corner panels maintain a sliding surface contact with the adjacent sidewall and thereby maintains a closed bottom.

In order to facilitate folding and also reduce the likelihood of tearing at the intersection of the various fold lines defining the gusset, apertures 93 are punched in the sheet material. Similarly recesses 94 may be provided at the terminal ends of fold lines.

In the above example the sheet material used is preferably plastics sheet which is relatively stiff and resilient. It will be appreciated that other sheet materials may be used, for example card or plastics laminated card.

Claims (8)

1. A wallet having a front wall connected to a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the side and bottom walls being expandable to enable the front and rear walls to be spaced apart by a greater or lesser extent, the front wall being foldably connected to the rear wall by said bottom wall, the side walls being foldably connected to one of the front or rear walls and being connected to the other of the front or rear walls by latch means.

2. A wallet according to claim 1 wherein all the walls and latch means are integrally formed from a single sheet of resilient material.

3. A wallet according to claim 1 or 2 wherein a corner panel is foldably connected to each side edge of the bottom wall, the corner panel underlying the bottom portion of the adjacent sidewall to thereby define a closed bottom for the wallet.

4. A wallet according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the latch means comprises a tab which is insertable into a corresponding slit, the tab including a body portion bounded by side edges, at least one side edge including a latch projection defining a maximum width of the tab which is greater than the corresponding width of the slit.

5. A wallet formed from a single sheet of resilient material so as to have a front wall connected to a rear wall by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, the front walk being foldably connected to the rear wall by said bottom wall, the side walls being foldably connected to one of the front or rear walls and being connected to the other of the front or rear walls by latch means, the latch means comprising an integral tab which is insertable into a corresponding slit, the tab including a body portion bounded by side edges, at least one side edge including a latch projection defining a maximum width of the tab which is greater than the corresponding width of the slit.

6. A wallet according to claim 4 or 5 wherein both side edges have a latch projection eachbeing defined by the transition point between a pair of inclined portions of each side edge.

7. A wallet according to claim 6, wherein the projection is located adjacent to the root of the tab, one of the pair of inclined portions being inclined acutely to the longitudinal axis of the tab and the other of the pair of inclined portions being inclined obliquely relative to the longitudinal axis of the tab.

8. A wallet substantially has herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.