GB2263885A

GB2263885A - Cover with closure for booklet or map

Info

Publication number: GB2263885A
Application number: GB9202558A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Simon Corbishley
Original assignee: Abington Enterprises Ltd
Current assignee: Abington Enterprises Ltd
Priority date: 1992-02-07
Filing date: 1992-02-07
Publication date: 1993-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2012-02-07
Also published as: GB2263885B; GB9202558D0

Abstract

The cover having a front panel 13 and a rear panel 14 divided by a spine 15 includes an upwardly direct tongue 18 located inside the outer edge of the front panel and a complementary downwardly directed tongue 19 formed inside the outer edge of the rear panel. When the front and rear panels 13, 14 are folded together, their outer edges may be held together by engaging the tongues with each other. One or more sheets of material may be attached to the cover in various arrangements. In one arrangement, a rectangular and foldable sheet of material (30, Fig. 5) is attached to the rear panel 14. The front and rear panels may be the size of a credit card. <IMAGE>

Description

ARTICLE MADE FROM SHEET MATERIAL This invention relates to an article made from flexible sheet material.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new or improved article made from sheet material.

According to this invention, there is provided an article made from sheet material comprising a cover sheet of flexible material which may be folded about a central axis to form a front panel and a rear panel and so as to define an inside surface and an outside surface, each panel having an outer edge remote from the central axis, at least one sheet of flexible material attached to the inside surface of the cover sheet, and means for holding the outer edges of the front and rear panels together.

Preferably, said holding means comprises a pair of inter-engaging elements, each of which is formed integrally with a respective one of the front and rear panels.

Preferably, said pair of inter-engaging elements comprises a pair of tongues directed in mutually opposing directions.

Conveniently, each tongue is located immediately inside the outer edge of its respective panel and is created by forming a cut-out in the material of the cover sheet.

Conveniently, each panel has a generally rectangular shape and the outer edge of each panel is substantially parallel to the central axis.

In one embodiment of the invention, said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a single rectangular sheet of material attached to the inside surface of the rear panel, the height and width of the single sheet being greater, respectively, than the height and width of the rear panel, and the single sheet having fold lines which are both parallel to and perpendicular to the central axis, whereby the single sheet may be folded to a size which is less than that of the rear panel.

In another embodiment of this invention, said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a single rectangular sheet of material attached to the inside surface of the rear panel, the height of the single sheet being less than that of the rear panel and the width of the single sheet being greater than that of the rear panel, and the single sheet having fold lines which are parallel to the central axis, whereby the single sheet may be folded to a size which is less than that of the rear panel.

In a further embodiment of this invention, said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a set of rectangular sheets of material having edges attached to the cover sheet in the vicinity of the central axis.

In a still further embodiment of this invention, said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a set of rectangular sheets of material which are attached to each other across their top edges to form a block of sheets, the bottom sheet being attached to the rear panel.

This invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a cover sheet in an opened-out state which forms part of an article made from sheet material embodying this invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cover sheet of Figure 1 with the front and rear panels inclined slightly towards each other; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the cover sheet of Figure 1, with the front and rear panels closed together and with their outer edges held together; Figure 4 is a greatly enlarged scrap perspective view of the cover sheet of Figure 1 showing the tongues for holding the outer edges of the front and rear panels together; Figure 5 is a perspective view of an article made from sheet material embodying this invention;; Figure 6 is a perspective view of another article made from sheet material embodying this invention; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a further article made from sheet material embodying this invention, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of a yet further article made from sheet material embodying this invention.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a cover sheet 10 which is to form part of an article made from sheet material. As will be explained with reference to Figures 3 to 5, one or more sheets of information bearing material may be attached to the cover sheet 10.

The cover sheet 10 has a pair of fold lines 11, 12 which divide it into a front panel 13, a rear panel 14, and a narrow spine 15 connecting the front and rear panels 13, 14. The front and rear panels 13, 14 may be folded together about a central axis located midway between, and parallel to, the fold lines 11, 12, thereby defining inside and outside surface of cover sheet 10.

The cover sheet 10 is made from flexible material which has sufficient stiffness to ensure that the front and rear panels 13, 14 adopt a substantially planar attitude.

In the present example, the cover sheet 10 is made from plastics material in the form of polypropylene.

Each of the panels 13, 14 has a generally rectangular shape and the height of each panel is greater than its width. The two panels 13, 14 are identical in height and width. The two panels 13, 14 have respective outer edges 16, 17 which are remote from, but parallel to, the fold lines 11, 12 and the central axis.

The front and rear panels 13, 14 are provided with a pair of inter-engaging elements, in the form of a pair of tongues 18, 19 which are directed in mutually opposing directions. The tongues 18, 19 are located immediately inside the respective outer edges 16, 17 and the tongues 18, 19 are created by forming cut-outs 20, 21 in the material of the cover sheet 10. The tongues 18, 19 are located approximately midway between the top edge 22 and the bottom edge 23 of cover sheet 10. The outer edges of tongues 18, 19 form part of the outer edges 16, 17 of the panels 13, 14. The inner edges of the tongues 18, 19 are formed by making cuts 24, 25 in the material of the cover sheet 10. As may be readily appreciated, the tongues 18, 19 are integral with the front and rear panels 13, 14.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, when the front and rear panels 13, 14 are folded together, their outer edges 16, 17 may be held together by engaging the tongues 18, 19 with each other.

Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown a first article 29 embodying this invention in which a rectangular sheet 30 of paper or other flexible material is attached by adhesive to the inside surface of rear panel 14 of cover sheet 10. The width and height of sheet 30 are, respectively, nearly six and three times greater than the width and height of rear panel 14. The sheet 30 has five fold lines 31 which are parallel to the fold lines 11, 12 and the three fold lines 32 which are perpendicular to the fold lines 11, 12. Consequently, the sheet 30 may be folded to a size which is slightly less than that of the rear panel 14.

Referring now to Figure 6, there is shown a second article 39 embodying this invention in which an elongate rectangular sheet 40 of paper or other rectangular material is attached by adhesive to the inside surface of rear panel 14 of cover sheet 10. The height of sheet 40 is slightly less than that of rear panel 14 but its width is nearly twelve times greater than that of rear panel 14. The sheet 40 has eleven fold lines 41 which are parallel to the fold lines 11, 12. Consequently, the sheet 40 may be folded to a size which is slightly less than that of rear panel 14.

In Figure 7, there is shown a third article 49 embodying this invention in which a set of rectangular sheets 50 of paper or other flexible material are attached with adhesive by their edges to the inside surface of spine 15 of cover sheet 10. The height and width of the sheets 50 are slightly less than the height and width of cover sheet 10. When the front and rear panels 13, 14 are opened away from each other, the sheets 50 may be turned as in a book.

In Figure 8, there is shown a fourth article 59 embodying this invention in which a set of rectangular sheets 60 of paper or other flexible material are attached with adhesive to each other across their top edges to form a block of sheets and the bottom sheet is attached by adhesive across a narrow strip at its top edge to the panel 14.

The sheets 30, 40, 50 and 60 may have specific or general information printed thereon. Purely by way of non-limiting examples, the information might be a map, instructions for using a machine, or data relating to sporting fixtures.

The articles 29, 39, 49 may be made in various sizes. However, a particularly attractive size is achieved when the width and height of the rear panel 14 are, respectively, 55mm and 85mm. This size corresponds to that of a credit card and permits the article 29, 39, 49 or 59, to be stored conveniently together with other credit cards. Two other alternative preferred sizes for the rear panel 14 are 80mm x llOmm and 95mm x 180mm.

The articles 29, 39, 49, 59 provide a particularly convenient way of holding and preserving sheets of material on which information is printed.

Claims

1. An article made from sheet material comprising a cover sheet of flexible material which may be folded about a central axis to form a front panel and a rear panel and so as to define an inside surface and an outside surface, each panel having an outer edge remote from the central axis, at least one sheet of flexible material attached to the inside surface of the cover sheet, and means for holding the outer edges of the front and rear panels together.

2. An article as claimed in Claim 1, in which said holding means comprises a pair of inter-engaging elements, each of which is formed integrally with a respective one of the front and rear panels.

3. An article as claimed in Claim 1, in which said pair of inter-engaging elements comprises a pair of tongues directed in mutually opposing directions.

4. An article as claimed in Claim 3, in which each tongue is located immediately inside the outer edge of its respective panel and is created by forming a cut-out in the material of the cover sheet.

5. An article as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which each panel has a generally rectangular shape and the outer edge of each panel is substantially parallel to the central axis.

6. An article as claimed in Claim 5, in which said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a single rectangular sheet of material attached to the inside surface of the rear panel, the height and width of the single sheet being greater, respectively, than the height and width of the rear panel, and the single sheet having fold lines which are both parallel to and perpendicular to the central axis, whereby the single sheet may be folded to a size which is less than that of the rear panel.

7. An article as claimed in Claim 5, in which said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a single rectangular sheet of material attached to the inside surface of the rear panel, the height of the single sheet being less than that of the rear panel and the width of the single sheet being greater than that of the rear panel, and the single sheet having fold lines which are parallel to the central axis, whereby the single sheet may be folded to a size which is less than that of the rear panel.

8. An article as claimed in Claim 5, in which said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a set of rectangular sheets of material having edges attached to the cover sheet in the vicinity of the central axis.

9. An article as claimed in Claim 5, in which said at least one sheet of flexible material comprises a set of rectangular sheets of material which are attached to each other across their top edges to form a block of sheets, the bottom sheet being attached to the rear panel.

10. An article made from sheet material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 5, or Figure 6, or Figure 7 or Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.