GB2282780A

GB2282780A - A foldable document

Info

Publication number: GB2282780A
Application number: GB9320313A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Allan George Seaton Knowles; Keith James William Beech; Wouter Goede
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-10-01
Filing date: 1993-10-01
Publication date: 1995-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-01
Also published as: GB9320313D0; GB2282780B

Abstract

The document comprises a sheet of material defining a plurality of fold lines extending between opposed edges of the sheet of material, and at least one further fold line extending between different opposed edges of the sheet of material, the fold lines enabling the sheet of material to be folded and unfolded in a concertina-like manner between an opened out condition and a folded up condition, the sheet of material carrying two separate, substantially planar cover portions formed from a material of greater stiffness than the sheet of material, the two cover portions being carried upon the sheet at positions immediately adjacent each other, the fold lines enabling the sheet to be folded up so that the sheet of material is received between the two cover portions. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION "FOLDABLE DOCUMENTS" THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to foldable documents by which is to be understood documents which define fold lines enabling them to be readily and repeatedly moved between a folded up condition and an opened out condition.

Thus this invention relates to documents such as maps, charts, plans and the like although it is to be appreciated that the invention may be used in connection with any type of document where it may be desirable for the document to be movable from a folded up condition in which it may, for example, readily be slipped into a pocket, and an unfolded condition where it can display information over a relatively large surface area.

It has been proposed previously to provide a document in the form of a sheet of material defining a plurality of parallel fold lines which enable the sheet to be folded in a concertina fashion and a further pair of parallel fold lines which extend perpendicularly to the concertina fold lines and which are intended to permit further folding up of the document once the concertina folds have been folded up. A document of this type is disclosed in the specification of International Application Publication No. WO 87/04284.Whilst a document of this type can carry a relatively large amount of information on a significant surface area, the document naturally tends to "spring open" from the folded up condition due to the large number of folds present in the sheet material and it is therefore necessary to provide additional means for holding the sheet material in the folded up condition. Clearly this adds to the cost of the product and detracts from the idea of providing a simple and relatively inexpensive document capable of carrying a large amount of information but which may be stored in a relatively small space. It can also make it difficult for the document to be passed through a mailing machine.The document disclosed in Specification WO 87/04284 also carries two stiff portions which are disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the rectangular sheet of material, the stiff portions forming a cover on the outside of the document when it is folded up. The particular manner of folding used in the document of this earlier Specification and the need for the two stiff portions to be positioned on the outside of the folded up document impose limitations on the number of concertina folds which can be provided.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved foldable document of the type discussed above.

According to the present invention there is provided a foldable document comprising a sheet of material defining a plurality of fold lines extending between opposed edges of the sheet of material, and at least one further fold line extending between different opposed edges of the sheet of material, the fold lines enabling the sheet of material to be folded and unfolded in a concertina-like manner between an opened out condition and a folded up condition, the sheet of material carrying two separate, substantially planar cover portions formed from a material of greater stiffness than the sheet of material, the two cover portions being carried upon the sheet at positions immediately adjacent each other, the fold lines enabling the sheet to be folded up so that the sheet of material is received between the two cover portions.

Preferably the plurality of fold lines are parallel with each other and said at least one further fold line extends substantially perpendicularly to the plurality of parallel fold lines.

Conveniently two said further fold lines are defined by the sheet of material, the further fold lines extending parallel witch each other.

The fold lines may be perforated to permit the removal of a portion of the sheet of material defined between perforated fold lines.

Advantageously the two cover portions are carried upon the same side of the sheet of material at positions immediately adjacent each other at one edge of the sheet of material.

Preferably the cover portions are formed of a plastics material.

Conveniently at least one of the cover portions carries printing upon at least part of its surface.

The sheet of material may comprise a sheet of paper which may be printed on at least one side.

Preferably the fold lines divide the sheet of material into a plurality of sections or panels of substantially equal size.

The fold lines may divide the sheet of material into a plurality of sections or panels which are of two different sizes. In this case the sections or panels defined adjacent one edge of the sheet of material may be of a lesser width than the remaining sections or panels defined by the fold lines over the remainder of the sheet of material.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a foldable document in accordance with the present invention when it is almost in the fully unfolded condition; FlGURE 2 shows the document of Figure 1 when in the folded up condition; and FIGURE 3 shows the document when in an initial stage of being unfolded.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings a foldable document in accordance with this invention comprises a rectangular sheet of material 1 which may, for example, comprise a sheet of paper. The sheet 1 has opposed longer edges 2, 3 and opposed shorter edges 4, 5. A. plurality of parallel fold lines 6 extend perpendicularly between the opposed longer edges 2, 3 of the sheet 1, the fold lines 6 being spaced evenly across the width of the sheet 1. The fold lines 6 are designed such that they permit ready folding of the sheet 1 in a concertina fashion, that is to say with adjacent fold lines 6 permitting folding of the sheet 1 in opposite directions.

A single transverse fold line 7 extends perpendicularly between the opposed shorter edges 4, 5 of the sheet 1, the fold line 7 dividing the sheet 1 in half.

The fold line 7 is designed to permit the folding of the sheet 1 in half after it has been folded up, concertina fashion, about the fold lines 6. It will be appreciated that the equal spacing of the fold lines 6 and the fact that the fold line 7 divides the sheet 1 in half results in the sheet 1 being divided into equal sized panels or sections by the various fold lines.

The sheet 1 may be printed on one or both sides with any type of information, pictures of the like. Thus, one side of the sheet 1 may be printed with a map whilst the other side of the sheet may carry written details relating to particular locations upon the map or may carry pictures of particular locations present on the map. The fold lines 6 and 7 may, if desired, be perforated to permit the easy removal of one or more panels or sections from the sheet. Thus, the document may comprise a plurality of miniature postcards and the user can select a particular postcard to be removed from the document and sent in the post. Alternatively the sheet 1 may have items glued or otherwise attached to it.

The document is provided with a stiffened cover positioned on the exterior of the document when it is in the folded up condition. The cover comprises two separate cover portions 8, 9, each cover portion comprising a rectangular sheet of stiffened material such as a plastics material typically used to produce credit cards. Each cover portion 8, 9 is of slightly greater size than one of the panels or sections defined by the fold lines 6, 7. The cover portions are glued to the sheet 1 at positions adjacent one of the shorter edges thereof. Thus, in Figure 1 of the drawings the cover portions 8, 9 are glued onto the sheet material 1 adjacent the edge 4 with the edges of the cover portions projecting slightly beyond the shorter edge 4 and the longer edges 2, 3 of the sheet material 1.

It will be appreciated that when the document is in the folded up condition, as shown in Figure 2, one of the cover portions 8 is located to the front of the document whilst the other cover portion 9 is located to the rear of the document. The outwardly directed surfaces of the cover por -ons 8, 9 may carry printing or the like. Thus, in addition to forming a protective cover, the cover portions 8, 9 may also carry an advertising message, information relating to the content of the information on the sheet of material 1 or any other information.

As shown in dotted outline in Figure 1 of the drawings the sheet of material 1 may be increased in size by increasing the length of the edges or sides 4, 5 of the sheet. In this case, what is illustrated in Figure 1 as being the lower edge 3 of the sheet material would become a fold line 7 and there would then be an additional transverse fold line 7 extending parallel to the other fold lines 7 and dividing the extended area of the sheet 1 in half. The fold lines 6 would, of course, be extended down to the bottom edge of the material. With this particular arrangement it is envisaged that when folding up the document it would initially be folded in half about the central fold line 7 (which extends along what is shown in solid lines as the bottom edge 3 of the sheet 1) before the document would be folded, concertina-fashion, about the fold lines 6.Finally the document would be folded in half about the upper and lower fold lines 7 which are, of course, superimposed one upon the other when the document is initially folded in half.

Whilst the document as thus far described is divided into panels or sections of equal size by the fold lines 6, 7 it would be possible for the fold lines to define panels or sections of differing sizes. In particular, it is envisaged that the free edge cf the sheet 1 (constituted by the edge 5 in Figure 1) may form the edge of panels which are of lesser width than the remaining panels, as shown in dotted outline by the reference numeral 10 in Figure 1. This edge portion 10 of the sheet would therefore constitute a small flap which facilitates the unfolding of the document, as becomes clear upon considering Figure 3 of the drawings. In Figure 3 the front cover portion 8 has been raised upwardly as shown by arrow 11 in Figure 2 so that it lies in the same plane as the rear cover portion 9.The edge portion 10 of the sheet 1 has a free edge which may readily be grasped between the thumb and forefinger and pulled in a lateral direction as shown by arrow 12 in Figure 3. This unfolds the document in a concertina fashion about the fold line 6. If the document is of an extended area (as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1) then following the lateral movement of the sheet in the direction of the arrow 12 the sheet can be unfolded fully by folding the outwardly directed half of the sheet downwardly about the central fold line 7. To fold up the document the steps outlined above are performed in reverse sequence.

It will be appreciated that with the cover portions 8, 9 provided next to each other at one edge of the sheet 1 there is no limitation on the size of the sheet 1 as long as when folded up it will remain in the folded up condition without the need for any additional retaining means. It is envisaged that the cover portions 8, 9 will be of approximately the same size as a conventional credit card (approximately 85mm x 55mm) so that when the document is folded up it can be accommodated within a credit card holder, wallet, pocket or the like. It is envisaged that the document may have up to twelve fold lines 6 and up to three fold lines 7 and will still tend to remain in the folded up condition between cover portions 8, 9 of credit card size.This facilitates the mailing of documents of this type because they may readily be passed through automatic mailing machines which is not always possible or is sometimes problematic if the document tends to spring open from the folded up condition.

The cover portions 8, 9 and particularly the cover portion to the rear of the document, may be used as a support for another item, such as a planar plastics card in the form of a 'game card', lottery card or a card capable of carrying numbers in coded form to assist in memorising credit card numbers. The additional card would be attached to one of the cover portions 8, 9 by means of a low-tck adhesive or the like which enables the card to be easily peeled off the cover portion for use separately.

It is to be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the specific embodiment described above without departing from the scope of this invention. Thus, whilst it is envisaged that the sheet of material 1 may comprise paper and the cover portions 8, 9 will be formed of a plastics material, other suitable materials could be used.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A foldable document comprising a sheet of material defining a plurality of fold lines extending between opposed edges of the sheet of material, and at least one further fold line extending between different opposed edges of the sheet of material, the fold lines enabling the sheet of material to be folded and unfolded in a concertina-like manner between an opened out condition and a folded up condition, the sheet of material carrying two separate, substantially planar cover portions formed from a material of greater stiffness than the sheet of material, the two cover portions being carried upon the sheet at positions immediately adjacent each other, the fold lines enabling the sheet to be folded up so that the sheet of material is received between the two cover portions.

2. A foldable document according to Claim 1 wherein the plurality of fold lines are parallel with each other and said at least one further fold line extends substantially perpendicularly to the plurality of parallel fold lines.

3. A foldable document according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein two said further fold l-lnes are defined by the sheet of material, the further fold lines extending parallel with each other.

4. A foldable document according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the fold lines are perforated to permit the removal of a portion of the sheet of material defined between perforated fold lines.

5. A foldable document according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the two cover portions are carried upon the same side of the sheet of material at positions immediately adjacent each other at one edge of the sheet of material.

6. A foldable document according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the cover portions are formed of a plastics material.

7. A foldable document according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of the cover portions carries printing upon at least part of its surface.

8. A foldable document according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sheet of material comprises a sheet of paper.

9. A foldable document according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sheet of material is printed on at least one side.

10. A foldable document according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the fold lines divide the sheet of material into a plurality of sections or panels of substantially equal size.

11. A foldable document according to Claim 10 wherein the fold lines divide the sheet of material into a plurality of sections or panels which are of two different sizes.

12. A foldable document according to Claim 11 wherein the sections or panels defined adjacent one edge of the sheet of material are of a lesser width than the remaining sections or panels defined by the fold lines over the remainder of the sheet of material.

13. A foldable document substantially as herein described, with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

14. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.