AU610569B2

AU610569B2 - Improvements in or relating to document holders

Info

Publication number: AU610569B2
Application number: AU13217/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Martin Ernest Newnham
Original assignee: Ofrex Group Holdings PLC
Current assignee: Ofrex Group Holdings PLC
Priority date: 1987-03-18
Filing date: 1988-03-17
Publication date: 1991-05-23
Anticipated expiration: 2008-03-17
Also published as: GB8706407D0; GB2205277B; GB8806330D0; AU1321788A; GB2205277A

Description

rrlll i ~=---C---ULWfAFnrr;;Y;Y;IYi~~_ll ._IW Cs L jilO -3 6 1M r -6 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA The Patents Act 1952-1969 Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: 00 OFREX GROUP HOLDINGS PLC The Lodge, Harmondsworth Lane, Harmondsworth, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 OLQ, England Martin Ernest Newnham G.R. CULLEN COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, Dalgety House, 79 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

0 0 a 0 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: 0 00 0 0 0 IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DOCUMENT HOLDERS The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to us: in respect of the invention, the subject of the application.

DECLARED at ti A~dyo lkcl~~ To: The Commissioner of Patents.

-la- DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Improvements in or relating to document holders THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to document holders of the type comprising a wallet formed of plastics material sealed along two edges so as to provide an open pocket to receive papers, documents or the like. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such document holders.

It has been proposed previously to manufacture 0*document holders of the type mentioned above, the document 0 holders being supplied in the form of a pile or stack of separate document holders. Sometimes the document holders are pre-punched to facilitate the insertion of the document holder in a ring bindler file.

0 a0 0 0 0 0 According to one aspect of this invention there is 0004provided an elongate strip of document holders, said trip a00000 0 0scomprising a front piece and a backpiece formed of sheet 0 0: plastics material, the front piece and back piece being joined, a.long one longitud.inal edge thereof, therebeing a plurality of substantially evenly spaced single weld lines extending across the strip, the weld lines connecting the front piece to the rear piece, there also being a plurality of perforated lines each extending substantially parallel and V.'0 -2immediately adjacent a weld line, the perforated lines all lying on a common side of the adjacent weld line such that when an individual document holder is removed from the end of the strip by tearing along the perforated line which connects the holder to the strip, the removed holder has two open edges.

Preferably the strip of document holders is formed from an integral element of plastics material, each document holder removed from the strip having two closed side edges and two open edges, one closed side edge of the document holder being formed by a fold line between two opposed parts of the document holder, and another closed edge of the S document holder being formed by a weld line.

Conveniently the perforated line joining the end 0000 i 0 0 n0 document holder to said strip or roll of other document 0 0 holders is located at the edge of the document holder remote 0 0 from the weld line.

00000oooo0 0 4 0 0 0 °o00 The strip may be in the form of a roll retained within a box.

The invention also relates to a method of making a strip of document holders, said method comprising the steps of taking a flattened tube of plastics material, providing 0 4, /y i v^ -2asaid flattened tube with a plurality of substantially evenly spaced, transversely extending single weld Ines, welding the two opposed parts of the flattened tube together, and providing the flattened tube with a plurality of transversely extending perforated lines, each perforated line extending adjacent to and parallel to a weld line, each perforated line lying on a common side of the adjacent weld line, and cutting the flattened tube axially to form two of said strips of document holders.

Preferably the method includes the additional step of winding a thus-produced strip of document holders on to a core to form a reel.

In order that the invention may be more readily 0t 4 o~ I o oo I 0 Iap -3understood, 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 is a perspective view of part of an element from which document holders in accordance with the invention are fabricated, showing weld and perforation lines, FIGURE 2 schematically illustrates the element of Figure 1 being cut to form two strips of document holders, FIGURE 3 is a schematic illustration of a strip of document holders, as shown in Figure 2, formed, on a central core, into a roll, and FIGURE 4 is a view of the roll of Figure 3 in a 20 box.

0 0o S0 0 0 d 0 0 0oooo. Document holders in accordance with the 0 0 present invention are fabricated from a plastics material, which is initially supplied in the form of a flattened tube 1. The tube thus presents a front or top o 0' piece and a bottom or lower piece effectively of sheet form, joined at the edges of the flattened tube by fold 0 lines. As an initial processing step the flattened tube 0 oo0 is passed through a welding apparatus which provides the flattened tube with evenly spaced weld lines 2, welding together the top sheet of the flattened tube to the a 0 lower sheet of the flattened tube, the weld lines 06 4 extending transversely across the flattened tube being spaced evenly apart. The spacing between the weld lines is selected to be slightly greater than the height of documents to be retained within the document holders being fabricated. The width of the tube is slightly i- -4greater than twice the width of documents to be retained within the document holders being fabricated.

The flattened tube is also provided with transversely extending perforations 3, immediately adjacent each weld line, the perforations extending parallel with the weld line and being spaced therefrom by a very small distance. The perforations are, in each case, located on the same side of the weld line.

As shown in Figure 2, the flattened tube' 1, with the weld lines 2 and the perforations 3, is then subjected to a cutting operation, where the tube is cut, for example by a blade 4 substantially along the centre line of the tube, thus forming two strips 5, 6, each strip having a width substantially equal to half the 0 0 0 0 width of the original flattened tube.

000000 0 0 00o Each strip 5, 6 may then be wound on to a core, o 20 such as a tubular cardboard core 7 commonly used to form 00 00 o 0 the centre of rolls or reels. The strip thus forms a 0 0 0oo0o reel, on a core, and it is envisaged that the reel can oo be mounted on a dispenser, the dispenser being located at a position where document holders may be required.

25 Thus, for example, the dispenser may be located immed- 0 00 o o0 lately adjacent a photocopying machine, or adjacent a oo 0 tele-copier or "FAX" machine, or may be located adjacent 0 a printer or word processor. In fact the described dis- 0000 ooo penser may be located anywhere where it is envisaged that a need for document holders will arise.

0 o °o 0 When a person requires a document holder, the 00 0 o 0o person may grasp the end portion 8 of the strip and tear the perforated line 9 closest to the end of the strip.

Thus the person removes from the strip a plastics material element which effectively comprises a document holder formed of two superimposed sheets which are I~y effectively joined together at one edge, by the fold that initially formed the side edge of the flattened tube, and at a transverse edge by means of the weld line 11. The remaining two edges of the document holder are open, since the edge opposed to the weld line is defined by part of the tube that was initially perforated, and the other remaining edge of the document holder was formed during the cutting operation.

Instead of being mounted on a dispenser a roll 12 comprising one of the strips 5, 6 on a core may be supplied in a box 13 having a hinged lid 14, dimensioned to receive and retain the roll. One end 15 may emerge from the box, even if the box is closed, between the front of the lid 14 and the front wall 16 of the box.

Part of the box, such as the lower edge of the Sfront wall 16 may be provided with a serrated metal o" cutting strip 17 to facilitate the separator of o 20 individual document holders from the roll.

3 o 0 on. It is to be understood that document holders of the present invention may be formed from plastics mater ial of many different thicknesses, thus enabling a manufacturer to provide document holders of any required quality and durability. Also document holders in accordance with the invention may be made of any appropriate size.

Whilst the invention has bec'n desc'ibed with reference to an embodiment in which the flattened tube is cut axially to form two strips of document holders of the same size, it would be possible to cut the flattened strip in a non-symmetrical manner, thus producing simultaneously document holders of two different widths.

i i--

Claims

1. An elongate strip of document holders, said strip comprising a front piece and a backpiece formed of sheet plastics material, the front piece and back piece being joined, along one longitudinal edge thereof, therebeing a plurality of substantially evenly spaced single weld lines extending across the strip, the weld lines connecting the front piece to the rear piece, there also being a plurality of perforated lines each extending .ubstantially parallel and immediately adjacent a weld line, the perforated lines all o lying on a common side of the adjacent weld line such that wherein the strip of document holders is formed from an 0 S when an individual document holde r is removed fom the end of removed from the strip y teahaviing along the perforated line which connects docuthe holder to the strip, the removed holder has two open edges.

2. A strip of document holders according to Claim 1 wherein the strip of document holders is formed from an S integral element of plastics material, each document holderd removed from the strip having two closed side edges and two open edges, one closed side edge of the document holder being forms1 by a fold line between two opposed parts of the document holder, and another closed edge of the document holder being formed by a weld line.

3, A strip of document holders according to Claim 2 wherein the perforated line joining the end document holder to said str p or roll of other docuent holders is located at 0 c -7- the edge of the document holder remote from the weld line,

4. A strip of document holders according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 in the form of a roll retained within a box.

A method of making a strip of document holders, said method comprising the steps of taking a flat; ned tube of plastics material, providing said flattened tube with a plurality of substantially evenly spaced, transversely extending single weld lines, welding the two opposed parts of the flattened tube together, and providing the flattened tube o with a plurality of transversely extending perforated lines, each perforated line extending adjacent to and parallel to a 0o weld line, each perforated line lying on a common side of the 0 adjacent weld line, and cutting the flattened tube axially to 1 form two of said strips of document holders,

6. A method according to Claim 5 including the additional step of winding a thus-produced strip of document holders on to a core to form a reel, 0001

7. An elongate strip of document holders substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the 000 o accompanying drawings. o

8. A method of making a strip of document holders substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this Fourth day of October, 1990, OFREX GROUP HOLDINGS PLC by their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.