WO2000053430A1

WO2000053430A1 - Device for maintaining documents to be faxed

Info

Publication number: WO2000053430A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/000316
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean Noël BRUERE
Original assignee: Bruere Jean Noel
Priority date: 1999-03-11
Filing date: 2000-02-09
Publication date: 2000-09-14
Also published as: FR2790715B1; FR2790715A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for passing through fax machines documents which are too small or lacking in rigidity. It consists of a support sheet (4) and a transparent sheet (2), linked by a binding (3) and between which the document to be faxed is inserted. The document is analysed through the transparent sheet (2), thereby enabling documents to be faxed without their having to be photocopied or stuck on another sheet. The invention also provides a novel advertising medium, since it can contain printed zones (6) bearing advertisements.

Description

HOLDING DEVICE FOR FACSIMILE DOCUMENTS

Most fax machines today, other than those built into computers and which do not require an original document to be sent, work by scrolling through the document to be sent inside them.

This document is introduced into the fax machine, generally through a slot, and one or more sensors then detect its presence. Once this presence is detected, the document can be automatically carried inside the machine. No training is possible until the presence of the document is detected.

The arrangement and construction of the sensors are such that the document to be faxed must have minimum dimensions and rigidity in order for them to function.

In addition, fax machine drive systems are designed to receive documents close to standardized formats, for example 21cm by 29.7cm in France. Many fax machines therefore work very poorly with small documents that skew and "stuff" when they scroll through the machine.

The same goes for documents whose rigidity is too low, which very often do not have sufficient strength to trigger the sensors and to support without wrinkling the inevitable asymmetries of the drive system.

All of these constitute major drawbacks which constrain the user who wishes to fax a document of small format or low rigidity:

-Either make a photocopy to bring its format and rigidity to the usual standards before sending it. This solution, in addition to a waste of time and an unnecessary expense, leads to a loss of quality of the documents to be sent and, ultimately, of the faxes received.

-Either paste the document on a sheet of paper having the characteristics required to pass into the fax machine. This other solution involves a loss of time and risks of damage to the fax machines in the event that the adhesive used is not completely dry when it passes through the apparatus. The devices proposed by patents US 5,087,238 A (OLSON) and US 4,335,845 A (DIERKS), intended to facilitate printing on certain documents, are not suitable for use on a fax machine.

US Patent 5,087,238 A provides a device formed by a form holder made from a sheet of flexible material resistant to temperatures of 200 ° C. A fold line is made in the sheet which divides it into a lower part and an upper part. The upper part extends from the fold line over a length less than that of the lower part. The form is placed on the lower part and the upper part, which has an adhesive part based on acrylic emulsion which serves to retain it, is folded over.

US Patent 4,335,845 A provides a device comprising a continuous conveyor belt to which a letter-envelope sheet device is removably attached. The continuous conveyor belt is made of detachable panels. The letter-envelope sheet device includes a letter-sheet part and an envelope part. The letter sheet part is separated from the envelope part after printing, typing or other. Maintaining the letter-envelope sheet device on the detachable panels is ensured by lines of adhesives.

These two patents allow the maintenance of a document to be treated with the help of adhesive surfaces based on glue. These adhesives generally have a limited number of uses, which also limits the life of the corresponding devices.

US Patent 5,087,238 A provides a device for holding the document

(form) to be processed by one of its edges. This limits the documents that the device can receive to those who have sufficient clothing to pass through the device for which the device is intended. The usefulness of the device according to US patent 5,087,238

A for documents with too low resistance or rigidity is therefore zero.

The device corresponding to this same patent has an upper part which folds over the document (form). The part of the document which can be processed is that which is not covered by the upper part which, moreover, is not transparent. This transparency is made impossible by the presence of the adhesive surfaces, which necessarily affect the path of the light rays. US Patent 4,335,845 provides a device which holds the document to be treated using adhesive surfaces by two of its opposite edges. It can therefore only be used for documents having dimensions compatible with the position of these adhesive surfaces.

The object of the invention is to remedy all these drawbacks by providing, unlike the cited patents, an device with an unlimited number of uses making it possible to fax documents having any size less than the current minima or not having a rigidity or a sufficient dress.

The scale on which the invention is represented in the different figures varies from one figure to another.

Figure 1 is a front view of a particular embodiment of the device according to the invention, ready to receive a document, the transparent sheet being raised and seen in perspective;

Figure 2 is a front view of the same particular embodiment of the device according to the invention with the transparent sheet folded over the support sheet, one of its angles being slightly raised;

Figure 3 is a front view of the same particular embodiment of the device according to the invention, after insertion of the document between the support sheet and the transparent sheet, with the transparent sheet folded over the support sheet, one of its angles being slightly raised . The representation of the document in this figure is voluntarily symbolized;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the same particular embodiment of the device, an angle of the transparent sheet being slightly raised;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a second particular embodiment of the device according to the invention, the transparent sheet and the support sheet being slightly spaced from each other to show the opening of the device through which the document must be swiped; Figure 6 is a front view of the same second particular embodiment of the device according to the invention with the transparent sheet folded over the support sheet;

Figure 7 is a front view of a third particular embodiment of the device according to the invention with the transparent sheet folded over the support sheet, one of its angles being slightly raised.

Are called edges or borders in the present description, the linear peripheral limits of the elements concerned.

With reference to the figures, the device according to the invention consists of the transparent sheet 2 placed against the support sheet 4 and linked to it by re-gluing it

3, the assembly having a rigidity and dimensions compatible with its introduction and its passage through fax machines.

The binding 3 is located at the edge of the transparent sheet 2 and the support sheet

4. It consists either of an articulation between the transparent sheet 2 and the support sheet 4, or of a bonding of these two sheets between them.

The transparent sheet 2 is made of a material allowing light to pass through it without significant alteration.

The maximum thickness (in principle at the level of the binding 3) of the device 1 is sufficiently small so that it can be introduced into the slot of the facsimile machine and be driven therein.

The user places the document 5 in the device 1, the opening of which is made possible by the binding 3, between the transparent sheet 2 and the support sheet 4. The face to be faxed of the document 5 is placed against the transparent sheet 2.

The transparent sheet 2 is folded over the support sheet 4, immobilizing the document 5.

The device assembly 1-document 5 can then be presented in the slot of the fax machine, the transparent sheet 2 on the side where the face to be faxed must be placed. Whatever the shape and size of the document 5, the device 1-document 5 assembly has sufficient rigidity to be inserted into the slot of the facsimile machine and to initiate operation of the latter.

It also has dimensions comparable to those of documents usually accepted by fax machines (for example A4 or A5 in France).

The total thickness of the device 1 is small enough that it can be inserted into the slot of the fax machine and be driven in and by it.

The introduction and passage of the 1-document device assembly 5 in the facsimile machines is therefore possible.

The document to be sent is analyzed by a light scan of it.

The transparency of the sheet 2 allows the passage through it of the light rays used for the analysis of the document 5 up to the latter. Analysis of document 5 according to the usual operating methods of the facsimile machine is therefore possible.

It is therefore seen that, despite its format and / or its rigidity usually incompatible with the passage through a fax machine, the document 5 can pass through this machine thanks to its association with the device according to the invention.

Unlike the device proposed by US patent 5,087,238 A, its upper part, the sheet 2, is transparent and completely covers the document 5. In addition, the holding of the document 5 in the device 1 is ensured by simple contact of the sheet transparent 2 on the support sheet 4, unlike the devices proposed by US patent 5,087,238 A and US patent 4,335,845 in which the document is held by adhesive surfaces.

The invention therefore has the advantages announced at the beginning of the description.

The device according to the invention can also allow the passage through a fax machine and at the same time of several small documents. Depending on the manufacturing method chosen, the transparent sheet 2 can be a plastic sheet of PVC or the like. Among other things, flexible transparent sheets about one to two tenths of a millimeter thick, usually serving as protection for the first page of bound files or for making transparencies for overhead projectors are very suitable for this use. They have, in addition to being transparent and difficult to crease, the advantage of easily adhering to the sheets which are attached to them, due to the static electricity which they often carry.

The binding 3 can be transparent, possibly made using adhesive tape or glued.

Binding 3 can be discontinuous.

It can also be produced by gluing the transparent sheet 2 and the support sheet 4 at the place where the binding should be located.

The support sheet 4 may consist of a sheet of ordinary paper, possibly cardboard, made of plastic, or any other flexible material.

The dimensions (length and width) of the transparent sheet 2 and of the support sheet 4 are generally close to each other and close to the general dimensions of the device 1.

However, depending on whether the device 1 is used or not only to ensure sufficient rigidity in the document 5, the transparent sheet 2 or the support sheet 4 may have dimensions different from the general dimensions of the device 1. It may also be advantageous to 'equipping one or two of these tab sheets or other elements making it possible, for example, to improve the keeping of documents 5 or the grip of the device 1 by the facsimile drive system. It is also possible to design a support sheet 4 of very small dimensions.

Depending on whether the light reflections generated by the surface of the transparent sheet 2 can be considered as annoying and as needing to be eliminated, the latter may have received an anti-reflective treatment, for example being slightly frosted. The frosting thus obtained must be compatible with the passage of light rays used for the analysis of documents by the fax machine. According to another particular embodiment, not shown, the transparent sheet 2, the support sheet 4 and the binding 3 may consist of a single element. The device 1 according to the invention in this case consists of a folded transparent double sheet.

In the case, shown in Figures 1 to 4, where the binding 3 is located on a single edge of the transparent sheets and support, experience shows that it is preferable that this edge corresponds to that which must be introduced first in the fax machine.

The device according to the invention can be supplied in different forms, for example in the same packaging as the rolls of thermal paper used by fax machines or supplied with fax machines when they are sold. D can also be supplied separately in several detachable copies joined to each other.

It can also constitute a new medium for advertising. Being generally larger than the document which is inserted between its sheets, the device

1 in fact comprises zones which will pass through the fax machines and which will not be masked by document 5.

These printed areas 6 can receive inscriptions, possibly of an advertising nature, which will be dispatched each time the invention is used. They are mainly located on the periphery of the device. Printing of the inscriptions can be carried out on one or both sheets.

The device according to the invention can be used for the passage of documents, not only in facsimile machines, but also in any other type of machine comprising a document drive system with rollers or rollers and in which the document is analyzed by a optical system, as is the case for example with certain photocopiers.

A particular embodiment of the device 1, shown in Figures 1 to 4, corresponds to a binding 3 linking the transparent sheet 2 and the support sheet 4 by only one of their edges.

Figures 5 and 6 show, from two different angles, a particular embodiment of the device corresponding to a binding 3a linking the transparent sheet 2a and the support sheet 4a by three of their edges. Another particular embodiment of the device, shown in FIG. 7, corresponds to a device 1b having a binding 3b linking the transparent sheet 2b and the support sheet 4b by two of their consecutive edges.

A fourth particular embodiment of the device, not shown in the figures, corresponds to a binding linking the transparent sheet and the support sheet by two of their non-consecutive edges.

Claims

1) Document holding device characterized in that it consists of a support sheet (4, 4a, 4b) and a transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b) placed one against the other and which , linked together by a binding (3, 3a, 3b), allow documents (5) to be inserted between them.

2) Device according to claim 1) characterized in that the transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b) consists of a plastic sheet.

3) Device according to one of claims 1) or 2) characterized in that the binding (3, 3a, 3b) is carried out using adhesive tape.

4) Device according to one of claims 1) or 2) characterized in that the binding

(3, 3a, 3b) is produced by gluing the transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b) and the support sheet (4, 4a, 4b) at the place where the binding is to be located.

5) Device according to one of claims 1) to 4) characterized in that the support sheet (4, 4a, 4b) consists of an ordinary sheet optionally cardboard or plastic.

6) Device according to one of claims 1) to 5) characterized in that the transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b) or the support sheet (4, 4a, 4b) have dimensions different from the general dimensions of the device (1 , la, lb).

7) Device according to one of claims 1) to 6) characterized in that the transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b) is treated against reflections.

8) Device according to one of claims 1) to 7) characterized in that the transparent sheet (2a, 2b) and the support sheet (4a, 4b) are linked together by the binding (3a, 3b) by several of their edges.

9) Device according to one of claims 1), 2), 6), 7), or 8) characterized in that the transparent sheet (2, 2a, 2b), the support sheet (4, 4a, 4b) and the binding (3,

3a, 3b) consist of a single element.

10) Device according to one of claims 1) to 9) characterized in that it comprises printed areas (6).