GB2300148A - A foldable document having concertina folds - Google Patents

Abstract

A credit card sized foldable document eg a map, chart, timetable or plan, comprises a sheet defining parallel concertina folds 7, 8. Alternate concertina folds 8 each have a central portion 9 which is folded in the reverse direction to the remainder of the fold line of which it forms part so that the central portion is folded in the same direction as the adjacent concertina fold line 7. The document is provided with stiff covers 12, 13 between which the sheet is received when in the folded up condition and by way of which the sheet may be moved between the folded and unfolded conditions without the need to handle the sheet itself.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION "A FOLDABLE DOCUMENT" THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a foldable document, that is to say a document in sheet form defining a plurality of fold lines which enable the sheet to be readily and repeatedly moved between a compact, folded up condition and an unfolded or opened out condition.

The invention is more particularly concerned with such a sheet in the form of an information carrier which a person may wish to consult fairly frequently and to carry on them in a pocket, wallet or the like. Thus, the invention is intended for use as a map, chart, timetable, plan or the like where a relatively large surface area is required to carry information but where it is desired that the document should be as small as possible when folded up.

There have been a number of previous proposals for foldable documents of this type. Thus 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 GB 2173448. The document also carries two stiff portions which are disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the rectangular sheet of the material, the stiff portions forming a cover on the outside of the document when it is folded up.Whilst this type of document serves the purpose of carrying a reasonable amount of information on a large area and can be folded to a small size, the act of folding up and unfolding the sheet is rather awkward or "fiddly", involving the careful manual folding, in different directions, of several fold lines if the document is to lie flat when folded up and not to become creased at positions where it should not be creased.

The present invention seeks to provide a foldable document which can be used as an information carrier which improves upon existing designs, which can be reliably moved between the folded up and unfolded conditions many times and which has an added novelty value compared with existing designs.

According to the present invention there is provided a foldable document comprising a sheet of material defining a plurality of parallel "concertina" fold lines extending between opposed edges of the sheet of material, the concertina fold lines enabling the sheet of material to be moved between a folded up condition and an unfolded or opened out condition in a concertina-like manner with adjacent concertina fold lines folding in opposite directions, the concertina fold lines being arranged with alternate fold lines each having a central portion which is folded in the reverse direction to the remainder of the concertina fold line of which it forms part so that the central portion is folded in the same direction as the adjacent concertina fold line.

Preferably each said central portion has an upper end and a lower end and the upper and lower ends of each said central portion are connected to the lower and upper ends respectively of said central portion of the next concertina fold line which folds in the same direction by way of further, criss-crossing fold lines.

Conveniently the further fold lines which interconnect the upper and lower ends of the central portions of adjacent fold lines which fold in the same direction cross each other at right angles.

Advantageously the parallel concertina fold lines are equally spaced across the sheet of material and the further fold lines which interconnect the upper and lower ends of the said central portions cross each other at the point where they cross the intermediate concertina fold line.

Preferably the further fold lines serve to define squares disposed between adjacent concertina fold lines which fold in the same direction and which do not have a said central portion, the said central portions each serving to divide one of the squares into two identical triangles.

Conveniently document is further provided with two separate substantially planar covers formed from a material of greater stiffness than the sheet of material, the two covers being mounted upon the sheet at opposed positions adjacent respective edges of the sheet, the covers each being connected to a respective triangle portion defined at the edge of the sheet by the further fold lines, the arrangement being such that when the document is in the folded up condition the sheet of material is received between the two covers.

Advantageously the document may be moved between the folded up condition and the unfolded condition by grasping and moving the covers without the need to handle the sheet of material.

The sheet of material may be formed of paper.

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 this invention when in the folded up condition; FIGURE 2 shows the document of Figure 1 when in the fully unfolded condition; and FIGURE 3 shows the document when in a condition part way between the folded up and unfolded conditions as it is being unfolded.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings there is shown a foldable document 1 comprising a rectangular sheet of material 2 having opposed longer sides 3, 4 and opposed slightly shorter sides 5, 6. The sheet 2 may be a sheet of paper, preferably 80 gram paper which is available from Wiggins Teape under the designation "High Speed Opaque".

It is to be appreciated, however, that the sheet 2 may be formed of other foldable materials. Any material which lends itself to carrying printing and which can be repeatedly folded and unfolded may be used.

A plurality of equally spaced parallel fold lines 7, 8 extend between the opposed longer sides 3, 4 in a direction parallel to the shorter sides 5, 6. The fold lines 7, 8 are designed to permit "concertina-style" folding of the sheet 2. Thus, one set of fold lines 7 fold in a first sense whilst the other set of fold lines 8 fold in the opposite sense. Adjacent fold lines therefore fold in opposite directions. Fold lines 7 fold forwards out of the plane of the sheet 2 (and out of the plane of the drawing of Figure 2) whilst the fold lines 8 fold backwards out of the plane of the sheet 2 (and out of the plane of the drawing of Figure 2).

Midway between the sides 3, 4 each fold line 8 has a central section 9 which folds in the opposite sense to the remainder of the fold line 8. Thus, the central section 9 of each fold line 8 folds forwards out of the plane of the sheet 2. It will therefore be appreciated that alternate concertina folds have a central portion which is folded in the opposite direction to the remainder of the fold so as to be folded in the same direction as the adjacent concertina fold.

Where the sheet 2 has longer sides 3, 4 measuring approximately 198 mm and shorter sides 5, 6 measuring approximately 169 mm, the spacing between adjacent folds 7, 8 is approximately 24.75 mm and the length of each central section 9 on each fold 8 is approximately 49.5 mm. It is to be appreciated, however, that the document may be produced in any desired size.

The opposite ends of adjacent central sections 9 of fold lines 8 are interconnected by criss-crossing fold lines 10, 11. Thus, the upper end of each central section 9 is connected to the lower end of the adjacent central section 9 to the right by folds 10 which fold backwards out of the plane of the sheet 2, whilst the lower end of each central section 9 is connected to the upper end of the adjacent central section 9 to the right by folds 11 which also fold backwards out of the plane of the sheet 2. The folds 10 are all parallel with each other as are the folds 11. The folds 10, 11 cross each other midway between the folds 8 i.e. on the folds 7 and at exactly the mid-point between the opposed longer sides 3, 4 of the sheet.

The arrangement of criss-crossing folds 10, 11 serves to define a square between adjacent folds 7 with the central section 9 of each fold line 8 serving to cut the square defined by the folds 10, 11 into two identical triangular halves. At the edges 5, 6 of the sheet 2 a triangle forming one half of one of the squares defined by the folds 10, 11 is defined between those folds 10, 11 and the edges 5, 6.

At positions located centrally between the sides 3, 4 of the sheet and at the edges 5, 6 thereof, relatively stiff protective covers 12, 13 are provided. Where the sheet 2 has dimensions as specified above the covers 12, 13 are each credit card sized, but can be of any size depending on the overall size of the document. The covers 12, 13 are identical and may be formed of card, plastics or any other material which is slightly stiffer than the sheet 2. When the document is in the folded up condition the sheet 2 is received wholly between the covers 12, 13, as will be appreciated from Figure 1, and the covers 12, 13 overlie each other and provide a complete protective cover for the document. The covers 12, 13 are each glued to the sheet 2 at opposed positions centrally between the sides 3, 4 such that the longer edges of the covers 12, 13 extend parallel to the sides 3, 4 of the sheet.Each cover is secured to the sheet 2 by gluing it to one of the triangular portions defined by the folds 10, 11 adjacent the sides 5, 6. Each cover is secured to the sheet within the triangular portions only and such that the corner of the triangular portion which is opposite the side 5 or 6 is disposed immediately adjacent the associated shorter side of the cover 12, 13 at its midpoint. It will be appreciated that this arrangement results in the majority of the covers 12, 13 projecting beyond the sides 5, 6 of the sheet 2. In addition to acting as a protective cover, the two cover portions 12, 13 form elements which may be grasped and used in order to move the document between the folded up and the unfolded condition, as will be appreciated from the description below.

The document is produced by initially stamping creases into the plain sheet 2 at positions which are to form the fold lines 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and by then folding along the fold lines either manually or by machine. The protective covers 12, 13 are then glued to the triangular portions at the edges of the sheet 2 in order to complete the assembly procedure.

When the document is in the folded up condition the upper and lower halves of the fold lines 7 lie immediately adjacent one another by virtue of the backwards folding of the fold lines 10, 11. Thus, in effect, the sheet 2 is folded in half about an imaginary line disposed midway between the sides 3, 4 and extending parallel thereto.

Whilst the upper and lower halves of the folds 7 are brought together by this folding action the upper and lower halves of the backwards-folding lines 8 are held remote from each other and, when the document is folded flat, the central section 9 of each fold line 8 is at right angles to each of the upper and lower halves of the remainder of the fold line 8.

When in the folded up condition shown in Figure 1 of the drawings the covers 12, 13 are exposed and the outer surfaces of those covers may be printed with advertising material, a text of instructions or any other information.

The covers provide protection for the sheet 2. When the document is to be unfolded the adjacent, right hand ends of each of the covers 12, 13 (as seen in Figure 1) are grasped and the upper cover is moved away from the lower cover with a hinging type action about its left hand end, as indicated by the arrow 14. Simultaneously the two covers are pulled apart laterally, as shown by the arrows 15 in Figure 3.

The simultaneous pulling apart and hinging movement of the covers 12, 13 as symbolised by the arrows 14, 15 causes the sheet 2 to be extended, simultaneously, in two directions. The concertina folds 7, 8 are unfolded so as to extend the sheet 2 laterally, whilst the sheet is unfolded about the imaginary central fold line between the sides 3, 4 as a result of the construction of the folds in the central region of the sheet, that is to say the central sections 9 of the folds 8 and the folds 10, 11 and the fact that, at its edges, the sheet is only secured to the covers 12, 13 in the outermost triangular portions defined by the sides 5, 6 of the sheet and the fold lines 10, 11.

In moving the document to the unfolded condition it is not necessary to handle the sheet 2 at all and the complete movement to the fully opened out condition is effected simply by pulling the covers 12, 13 apart in the manner as described above. It is to be appreciated that although the covers afford protection for the folded up document it is not essential that the covers be provided and the invention could be utilised without covers at all or with much smaller covers or "tabs" which simply perform the task of affording a graspable element to facilitate unfolding of the sheet 2. Where no covers are provided the sheet 2 is unfolded simply by grasping each of the triangular portions defined between the folds 10, 11 and the sides 5, 6 of the sheet 2 and pulling them apart in a direction as indicated by the arrows 15.

The sheet 2 may carry information on one or both sides thereof. The information could be of any desired form and whilst it is envisaged that the document may be used primarily as a map, plan, chart, timetable or the like, it is also envisaged that it could be used as a label to be mounted upon a container. In this application the covers 12, 13 may be provided with releasable means for retaining them in the overlying position where the document is folded flat. Such means may take the form of perforated adhesive tape of the like which may readily be released to permit the movement of the document to the unfolded condition in which information provided on the label can be read or viewed.

The folds 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 are "permanent" folds and even when the document is in the fully unfolded condition it has a natural tendency to start to move slightly towards the folded up condition. This facilitates the movement of the document back into the folded up condition and it is simply necessary to move the covers 12, 13 in the opposite direction to that described above for the unfolding of the document in order to move it to the folded condition again.

Thus, the covers 12, 13 are pushed together in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrows 15 and as the covers move towards each other they are folded about an imaginary hinge line located centrally between them in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrows 14 in order to bring the document to the fully folded up condition as shown in Figure 1.

It will be appreciated from the description given above that the document may be moved between the folded up and the unfolded condition very easily without the need to handle the sheet 2 at all and without the need to execute folding actions in several different directions. This greatly facilitates the use of the document.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the specific design described above without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appendant claims.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS:

1. A foldable document comprising a sheet of material defining a plurality of parallel "concertina" fold lines extending between opposed edges of the sheet of material, the concertina fold lines enabling the sheet of material to be moved between a folded up condition and an unfolded or opened out condition in a concertina-like manner with adjacent concertina fold lines folding in opposite directions, the concertina fold lines being arranged with alternate fold lines each having a central portion which is folded in the reverse direction to the remainder of the concertina fold line of which it forms part so that the central portion is folded in the same direction as the adjacent concertina fold line.

2. A foldable document according to Claim 1 wherein each said central portion has an upper end and a lower end and the upper and lower ends of each said central portion are connected to the lower and upper ends respectively of said central portion of the next concertina fold line which folds in the same direction by way of further, crisscrossing fold lines.

3. A foldable document according to Claim 2 wherein the further fold lines which interconnect the upper and lower ends of the central portions of adjacent fold lines which fold in the same direction cross each other at right angles.

4. A foldable document according to Claim 3 wherein the parallel concertina fold lines are equally spaced across the sheet of material and the further fold lines which interconnect the upper and lower ends of the said central portions cross each other at the point where they cross the intermediate concertina fold line.

5. A foldable document according to Claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the further fold lines serve to define squares disposed between adjacent concertina fold lines which fold in the.same direction and which do not have a said central portion, the said central portions each serving to divide one of the squares into two identical triangles.

6. A foldable document according to Claim 5 wherein the document is further provided with two separate substantially planar covers formed from a material of greater stiffness than the sheet of material, the two covers being mounted upon the sheet at opposed positions adjacent respective edges of the sheet, the covers each being connected to a respective triangle portion defined at the edge of the sheet by the further fold lines, the arrangement being such that when the document is in the folded up condition the sheet of material is received between the two covers.

7. A foldable document according to Claim 6 wherein the document may be moved between the folded up condition and the unfolded condition by grasping and moving the covers without the need to handle the sheet of material.

8. A foldable document according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the sheet of material is formed of paper.

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

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