GB2282795A

GB2282795A - Photo film work bag

Info

Publication number: GB2282795A
Application number: GB9402765A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Trevor Turner; Paul Foley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-21
Filing date: 1994-02-14
Publication date: 1995-04-19
Also published as: GB9402765D0

Abstract

A photo film work bag which comprises a substantially flat rectangular wallet of plastic material adapted to contain a conventional card or paper wallet holding photographic prints and having an external pocket 20 extending over at least part of the front or rear face thereof. The external pocket 20 may be of a transparent material and is intended to hold a card 10 bearing information about the film's owner etc. The interior of the pocket 20 may have a rough surface to enhance frictional retention of the card 10. An aperture 30 may be provided in the front wall of the pocket to enable information to be written on the card 10 in situ. This may extend the whole width of the pocket, in which case the sides of the pocket may be funnelled inward to retain the card (Fig 5). The card may be provided with an adhesive strip (22, Fig 4) to which the flap 5 may be releasably secured. <IMAGE>

Description

PHOTO FILM WORK BAG Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photo film work bag of the type used to convey an undeveloped film to the film processors for development, and in which the developed prints may be returned.

Background to the Invention Despite the advent of the compact automatic film developing systems that are now commonplace in many high street photographic retail outlets, centralised laboratories retain a major portion of the commercial film processing market.

The systems operated by the centralised laboratories are, of necessity, highly organized to ensure that the films and their identifying details remain together throughout the complex procedure and despite the vast numbers of films arriving at the laboratory from many different sources.

In order to maximise efficiency and thereby minimise operational cost all films sent to the laboratory are conventionally packaged in a photo film work bag which is pre-printed with the identity of the film owner including name and address and other relevant details which may include details of the nature of the film including, for example, film speed and length of film.

The conventional format of photo film work bag comprises one or more paper sheets on which the details are printed, one commonly being copy carbon backed. The rearmost sheet generally has adhesive-bonded thereto a transparent layer. The rear sheet and layer between them form a wallet within which the roll of film is placed for transmission to the laboratory.

The rectangular shape and the size of the photo film work bag are standardized throughout the industry to suit the standard form of prints and to enable automated handling of the wallets when received at the laboratory.

This automated handling is crucial to simultaneously maintain the coordination of details and films and maximise economic efficiency.

It is, however, an inherent feature of the conventional photo film work bags that they are effectively unre-usable since they are personalized to the customer and to the film which they contain and since they are of paper construction.

It is a general objective of the present invention to provide a photo film work bag that does not disrupt the high operating efficiency of the processing system and yet may be re-used. Without re-use the photo film bag represents an ecological waste as well as a financial one and in countries such as Germany the political implications of the ecological wastage are well understood and the companies who manufacture photo film work bags are fervently seeking ways of overcoming this problem.

Summarv of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a photo film work bag which comprises a substantially flat rectangular wallet of plastics material adapted to contain a conventional card or paper wallet holding photographic prints and having an external pocket extending over at least a part of the front or rear face thereof.

Preferably the pocket extends across the planar width of the wallet from the foot of the wallet and opens in the same direction of opening as the wallet itself.

Advantageously the wallet is formed of a first web of plastics material superimposed on a second web of plastics material and heat sealed or otherwise welded thereto along the lateral edges and foot of the wallet.

Advantageously at least the pocket of the wallet is formed of transparent plastics material.

Substantially the entirety of the wallet is suitably formed of transparent plastics material.

Preferably that part of the wallet which forms the back wall of the pocket is formed with a roughened surface, preferably in contrast to the material which forms the front wall of the pocket, to enable a card inserted into the pocket to be retained by friction against the roughened surface.

Advantageously the front wall of the pocket has an aperture therein to enable direct access to a portion of a work card in the pocket for writing on or otherwise marking that portion of the card without removing it from the pocket.

Suitably the aperture extends across substantially the full width of the pocket and preferably the pocket thereabove is provided with funnel welds to direct the work card into a predetermined location within the pocket. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a weld within the wallet to prevent the contents of the wallet dropping to the level of the access aperture of the pocket According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a photo film work bag of the first aspect of the present invention in combination with a work card which is placed, in use, within the pocket and which bears the identity of the film carried in the wallet.

Preferably the work card is provided with an adhesive strip extending there across such that when the work card is placed in the external pocket of the photo film work bag a flap by means of which the wallet is closed adheres to the adhesive on the card to seal the flap in the closed position. Preferably the photo film work bag is provided with a strap extending there across under which a portion of the work card protruding from the external pocket may be tucked such that the work card is securely held against the photo film work bag both by the pocket and the strap and such that the adhesive strip is exposed therebetween to readily secure the flap closed.

Preferably the adhesive strip of the card is a "self-seal"-type of adhesive strip which is protected by a cover film until such time as it is to be used, whereupon the cover film is removed to enable the adhesive strip to adhere to the flap of the photo film work bag.

In this latter embodiment, the work card may be processed in situ within the work bag when received at the processing laboratory and need not be separated from the bag until the stage at which the bag and developed film are returned to the retail outlet from which it originates. This provides verv substantial economies in operation and provides an enormous advance over the existing apparatus and procedure.

Where the work card is to be returned to the customer, the upper portion of the work card having the self adhesive strip mounted thereon may be detachable from the remainder of the work card for removal prior to receipt by the customer.

Suitably the nature of the adhesive is such that the flap may be opened and closed several times but not sufficiently strongly adhesive that the adhesive material from the work card permanently contaminates the flap of the work bag, enabling the work bag to be re-used subsequently with a different work card.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a photo film work bag embodying the invention and having a work card in the pocket thereof; Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the work bag of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevation of a work bag similar to that of Figure 1 but in which the pocket has an access aperture; Figure 4 is a front elevation of a work bag similar to that of Figure 1 but in which the work card has an adhesive strip to secure the flap; and Figure 5 is a front elevation of a work bag similar to that of Figure 3 but in which the access aperture is enlarged.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to figure 1, the photo film work bag comprises a substantially flat rectangular wallet formed of two webs of thermo plastics material which are heat welded together along the lateral edges 1,2 of the wallet and along the bottom edge, or foot, 3. The chosen plastics material is of a type which is sufficiently flexible to allow opening and closure of the wallet many times without cracking or splitting, and which is sufficiently transparent to enable handlers to view into the wallet to read the film details.

The opposing end 4 of the wallet is unsealed but closeable by means of a flap extension 5 of the rear web of the wallet which is foldable about a welded crease. The crease enhances foldability and further restricts spillage of the contents of the wallet. This flaps is fastenable in the closed state by feeding it beneath a strap 6 extending across the upper end of the wallet. In the illustration of figure 1, the flap is in the fastened state, held in place by the strap 6. A 'W'-shaped tongue 7 pressed from the material of the flap 5 catches against the lower edge of the strap 6 to prevent accidental slippage of the flap 6 from under the strap 5. The 'W' shape of the tongue 7 spreads the stress on the strap 6.

Extending across the front of the wallet is a superimposed further web of material 9 which constitutes the front wall of an external pocket 20. This pocket 20 extends for approximately half the height of the wallet and across its full width. The pocket's primary role is to accommodate a work card 10 onto which the details of the identity of the owner of the film to be held in the bag (or other means of identifying its origin and any other relevant details associated with that film) are printed.

The details on the work card 10 and, indeed, the film itself are clearly visible through the transparent material of the work bag.

In order that the work card 10 remains securely lodged within the pocket 20, at least a portion of the front face of the wallet which lies behind the card ie at least part of the backwall of the pocket 20, in use, is of roughened texture.

For optimum grip, both webs of material which form the pocket 20 may be rough, and suitably that part of the web against which the closed flap rests 5 and/or the strap 6 is/are roughened also. For optimum transparency, however, the remainder of the wallet and front walls of the pocket 20 are not roughened.

To fulfil its role as a photo film work bag, the wallet needs to be of broadly standard dimensions, to suit conventional handling equipment and techniques, which are generally of the order of 9 inches in height and 6 1/4 inches in width for holding conventional non-enlarged prints. Variants may be provided which are dimensioned to accommodate the standard enlargement sizes. The depth of the front pocket may suitably be 2 1/2 to 5 inches, for example.

The flap 5 is suitably transparent and 3 inches long and held closed by a 1 inch wide strap. The transparency of the flap enables the customer name and job number, at the top right hand corner of the work card 10 to be read with ease when the work bags are stored upright in trays in the shop, awaiting collection.

The photo film work bag is used primarily at two major stages of the overall film processing procedure. Firstly, it is used to transmit the roll/cartridge of undeveloped film to the processing laboratory in the interior of the wallet with a correspoding work card 10 in the external pocket 20 whereupon it is emptied of its contents, both film and work card, and may be re-used.

Secondly, once the film has been developed, the work bag provides a secure protective casing within which the developed prints held in a conventional paper or card wallet may be transmitted back to the retail outlet from which the film had originally been sent. Both pre-development and postdevelopment, the photo film work bag serves as a means of protecting the film in transport and ensuring that the identifying details of the film are kept with it. Between these two stages the development process follows the conventional steps of identity tagging and splicing of films in sequential order which will ensure that the identity of the film is not lost throughout the development process. The work cards corresponding to the respective films are similarly encoded into sequential order.

The work card on which the identifying details are retained during transit of the undeveloped film or developed prints provides a versatile resource facilitating handling of the film and of the data relating to it.

Suitably the card 10 is formed to have one or more tear-away portions which may include a shop portion having the customer name and the job number at the top right hand corner thereof, a main work card portion, a customer copy (receipt) portion and, as a further option, a separate pricing slip portion. The main work card portion is suitably of the order of 7 inches in length and the shop portion and customer copy portion each of the order of 2 inches or 3 inches in length. The identifying details are suitably provided by laser overprinting. Commensurate with existing technology, the width of the card is suitably of the order of 5 inches to 6 inches.

For optimum operating efficiency, the provision of the bag to be substantially wholly transparent is important. In contrast to the prior art, critical identifying information can be read from both sides of the bag. This enables, for example, the film and work card 10 to be easily identified on receipt at the laboratory from the shop. This also enables selection of the appropriate paper wallet for the film more easily prior to return of the film to the shop.

An EAN bar code may be read through the back of the wallet and is of value in logging the prints back into the shop as well as providing additional identification.

An aperture 30 may be provided in the front wall 9 of the pocket 20 to enable details to be handwritten or printed onto the installed work card 10 at the pricing terminal, following development.

In addition or alternative to use of the photo film work bag for transmission to and from a laboratory, it may also be used as a storage wallet for those prints that do not end up being put into an album. To this end, the external pocket 9 may accommodate a print facing outwardly to serve as a visual guide to the contents of the batch of prints stored within the wallet.

Referring to Figure 4, there is shown a photo film work bag embodying the invention in which the work card 10 inserted within the external pocket 20 of the work bag extends substantially the full length of the work bag, and at least sufficiently to slip underneath the strap 6 which would normally secure the flap 5 in place.

In this instance, however, the work card 10 itself provides the means for securing the flap 5 closed. An adhesive strip 22 of self-seal adhesive type extends across the work card 10. This strip 22 is covered by a film of silicon paper which is removable to expose the adhesive once the card 10 has been inserted into the pocket 20 and it is desired to close the flap 5.

It has been found that self-seal adhesive strips of the type used to seal many envelopes provides an adequate bond to hold the flap closed to enable processing of the work card in situ within the work bag throughout its progress through the development laboratory. The flap 5 may generally be opened and closed around 10 times without significant loss of adhesion and without risk of permanently transferring adhesive deposits to the underside of the flap 5.

The upper portion of the card 10 on which the adhesive strip 22 is mounted is separable from the remainder of the work card 10 by tearing along a line of perforation 23 immediately below the adhesive strip 22 once the work bag has been returned to its source with the card 10 therein and it is then desired to separate the card 10 from the bag to present the card 10 to the customer.

In the Figure 4 embodiment the preferred dimensions of the photo film work bag are of the order of 230ml from the foot of wallet to the crease about which the flap 5 folds. Suitably the external pocket 20 extends for approximately 150mm of this deepth and the strap extends for of the order of 30ml of this deepth and a gap approximately 40ml is provided between the external pocket 20 and strap 6. The flap 5 suitably extends for of the order of 50ml to overlap the adhesive strip 22 beyond the strap 6.

Turning to Figure 5 there is shown an embodiment of work bag and work card 10 adapted to improve the precision of positioning the card 10 within the work bag to enable accurate registration of the work card 10 for printing of details thereon and reading of bar codes therefrom during processing to facilitate processing of the work card in situ with the work bag avoiding need for removal of the card 10 therefrom at any stage during the progress of the work bag and card in the development laboratory.

Unlike the Figure 3 embodiment, the access aperture 30 extends across the full width of the external pocket 20 for a depth of suitably around 26mm or greater. Furthermore, the work card 10 is funnelled into position by constricting the width of the lower most portion of the work card 10 and correspondingly inwardly tapering the sides of the external pocket 20 by provision of funnel welds 33 on either side of the pocket 20 above the access aperture 30. The funnel welds 33 are suitably formed prior to the welding together of the front and rear webs of the wallet and the welding of the flap 6.

In practice, the width dimension of the wallet is suitably reduced from approximately 6 inches to approximately 5 inches by the funnel welds 33 which project approximately inch each laterally inwardly into the wallet.

As a measure to prevent interference of the positioning of the work card within the pocket 20 by the undeveloped film cartridge inserted into the wallet or by the developed prints inserted therein, the main cavity of the wallet is suitably sealed off at or above the level of the access aperture 33.

This prevents the film from lodging at the base of the wallet and obstructing proper insertion of the work card 10 fully into the pocket 20. The seal across the main cavity of the wallet is suitably formed by a thin sonic weld

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A photo film work bag which comprises a substantially flat rectangular wallet of plastics material adapted to contain a conventional card or paper wallet holding photographic prints and having an external pocket extending over at least part of the front or rear face thereof.
2. A photo film work bag as Claimed in Claim 1, wherein the pocket extends across the planar width of the wallet from the foot of the wallet and opens in the same direction of opening as the wallet itself.
3. A photo film work bag as Claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the wallet is formed of a first web of plastics material superimposed on a second web of plastics material and heat sealed or otherwise welded thereto along the lateral edges and foot of the wallet.
4. A photo film work bag as Claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein said external pocket is formed of transparent plastics material.
5. A photo film work bag as Claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein substantially the entirety of the wallet is formed of transparent plastics material.
6. A photo film work bag as Claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein that part of the wallet which forms the back wall of the pocket is formed with a roughened surface, to enable a card inserted into the pocket to be retained therein by friction against the roughened surface.
7. A photo film work bag as described in any preceding Claim wherein the front wall of the pocket has an aperture therein to enable direct access to a portion of the work card in the pocket for writing or otherwise marking that portion of the card without removing it from the pocket.
8. A photo film work bag as Claimed in Claim 7, wherein the aperture extends substantially the full width of the pocket and has funnelling means to funnel the card into position relative to the aperture.
9. A photo film work bag as Claimed in any preceding Claim, in combination with a work card which is placed, in use, within the pocket and which bears the identify of the film carried in the wallet.
10. A photo film work bag as Claimed in Claim 9, wherein the work card has an adhesive strip thereacross adapted to seal closed a closure flap of the wallet in use.
11. A photo film work bag substantially as herein before described with reference to any suitable combination of the accompanying drawings.
12. A photo film work bag in combination with a work card, substantially as herein before described with reference to any suitable combination of the accompanying drawings.