GB2262475A

GB2262475A - Folding sheet article with folding cover

Info

Publication number: GB2262475A
Application number: GB9105041A
Authority: GB
Inventors: George Wallace Mcdonald
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-03-09
Filing date: 1991-03-09
Publication date: 1993-06-23
Anticipated expiration: 2011-03-09
Also published as: HK168096A; GB2262475B; GB9105041D0

Abstract

A folding sheet article (10) comprises a sheet (12) having a first set of concertina folds (14) and, so as to be across these when the sheet (12) is folded, a second set of concertina folds (16), and a first stiff portion (18) that is attached to one corner (20) of the sheet (12) and has one end (22) that folds over the sheet (12) when folded to cover it and is folded over at the other end (24) to capture said one end (22) of the portion (18) when it covers the sheet, the article further comprising a second stiff portion (26) which is attached to the diagonally opposite corner (28) of the sheet and extends to cover the whole of the sheet (12) when folded. Portion (26) has the same kind of surface as one or both adjacent faces (22, 24). Said folded over end (24) does not cover any part of said sheet (12) or said stiff portion (26) when said sheet (12) is folded. The segment (34) of the sheet defined by folds (14,16) and at sad one corner (20) is attached by the whole of its area to said stiff portion (18). Said folded over end (24) has no fastening or otherwise to support it in being folded apart from its own stiffness. The article (10) is of credit card size. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE FOLDING SHEET ARTICLE BACKGROUND This invention relates to folding sheet articles.

Such an article having the nature of a matchbook has been proposed in United States Patent Specification 4606553 to Nickerson. This describes a method of opening which requires the thumb to be inserted under the top corner of the folded sheet and then this corner grasped between thumb and finger. This is awkward for people with arthritis and difficulties in grasping and is also psychologically unattractive because it requires distortion (bending, as described in Nickerson) of the top segment of the sheet and gives a sense of insecurity and Jnpermanency to the article.

THE INVENTION.

The present inventor has realised that these difficulties can be ameliorated by providing a suitable stiff portion to be grasped to open the sheet.

According to th invention there is provided an article as defined in claim t. This enables the sheet to b opened easily by people with grasping difficulties, with less twisting of the hand than required by Nickerson and providing a psychologically improved opening movement and psychologically more satisfying feel to the article. These points are very important when trying to obtain large quantities of orders through advertising agents for these articles to be used by their clients as give-aways.

A further improvement is obtained if said second stiff portion has the same kind of surface as one or both adjacent faces of said first stiff portion when its said one end uncovers the sheet. This is because said surface will then appear to be a continuation of said face or faces and can take continued advertising material or text extending across said surface and adjacent face/s and because special print quality can be used on both said surface and said face/s, e.g. these can be of glossy card to take multi-colour print.

If said folded over other end of said first stiff portion does not cover any part of said sheet when folded and preferably also does not cover over any part of said second stiff portion when the said sheet is folded, it is particularly easy to open the folded sheet without distorting said other end of said first stiff portion, although there are alternative advantages if said second stiff portion, but not said sheet when folded, is covered slightly by said folded over other end of said first stiff portion, since in this case slight distortion of the folded sheet will release said second stiff portion, which is not too difficult in practice, but certainly much easier than when the folded over other end of said first stiff portion has to be distorted to release the folded sheet as well.Capturing said one end as described above when the sheet has been folded and covered again by said one end of said first stiff portion is further facilitated if said folded over other end of said one stiff portion has no fastening or otherwise to support it in being folded apart from its own stiffness. This has the concomitant advantage that it makes manufacture that much more simple and especially cheap, which is important for large numbers of give-away articles.

As the article is intended for heavier use than would appear to be appropriate to Nickerson, it is particularly advantageous to ensure that the segment of the sheet defined at said one corner by folding the sheet is attached by substantially the whole of its area to said one stiff portion. This produces a stronger article and has a further psychological advantage in that the whole article appears to be quite robust and well made, which would not be the case if only one corner of such segment were attached to the first stiff portion.

A further important advantage in producing such an article as a give-away is to enhance its acceptability by the general public. To this end, the article is made of credit card size, namely 5 to 5 cm.

by 8 to 8t cm., so that it can then fit into any of the many kinds of credit card wallets which have pockets of standard size to receive such a card.

Compared with the present inventor's previous invention described in British Patent Specification 2173448B, the present article provides an improvement in that it provides means for holding the article closed and also psychologically is more acceptable because it has the feel and functional appearance of a more complete article and provides more than twice as much space for external promotional matter (four segment faces of stiff material) than the previous invention.Compared with Nickerson, the embodiments described below of the present invention have the advantages described in the present inventors earlier UK Patent Specification 2173448B, especially of enabling the article to be held in one hand and opened solely with that hand by inserting the thumb to open the cover portion and then simply projecting the other stiff portion away from the cover portion by a shake of the article.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING Reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawing, in which the sole figure is a perspective view of an article embodying the invention with a chain-line view of the opened sheet.

Referring now to the drawing, a folding sheet article 10 comprises a sheet 12 having a first set of concertina folds 14 and, so as to be across these when the sheet 12 is folded, a second set of concertina folds 16, and a first stiff portion 18 that is attached to one corner 20 of the sheet 12 and has one end 22 that folds over the sheet 12 when folded to cover it and is folded over at the other end 24 to capture said one end 22 of the portion 18 when it covers the sheet 12. The article 10 further comprises a second stiff portion 26 which is attached to the diagonally opposite corner 28 of the sheet 12 and extends to cover substantially the whole sheet 12 when folded. This can be seen from that part of the Figure shown in full lines. When end 22 is folded down over sheet 12, edge 30 engages under edge 32.

Said second stiff portion 26 has the same kind of surface (facing the viewer in the Figure) as one or both adjacent faces (facing the viewer in the Figure, of ends 22,24 respectively,) of said first stiff portion 18 when its said one end 22 uncovers the sheet 12, i.e. in the position shown in the Figure.

As also seen in full lines in the Figure, said folded over other end 24 of said first stiff portion 18 does not cover any part of said sheet 12 when folded nor of said second stiff portion 26 when said sheet 12 is folded.

The segment 34 of the sheet 12, defined by folds 14,16 at said one corner 20 by folding the sheet 12, is attached by substantially the whole of its area to said one stiff portion 18. Thus, when the sheet is opened, substantially the whole of this corner segment 34 will be seen to be solidly attached to the inside of said one stiff portion 18.

As also seen in the Figure, said folded over other end 24 of said one stiff portion 18 has no fastening or otherwise (e.g. in the nature of a staple) to support it in being folded apart from its own stiffness, which will maintain its fold 36. This also facilitates capture of edge 30 under edge 32 since edge 32 can be raised to allow end 22 to close over sheet 12 and stiff portion 26,and end 24 will then sprig back into place.

The whole article 10 is of credit card size, namely 5 to 5 cm.

by S to 82 cm. It can readily be made about 2 mm. thick. These figures correspond substantially to 2 to 2 ins. by 3i to 33/8 ins. and l/LO to 1/16 inch thick.

Nany variations of the invention and embodiments hereinbefore described will be apparent to people skilled in the art and all such be variations are to/considered as falling within the appended claims.

Features from different embodiments described herein may be combined.

Claims

1. A folding sheet article comprising a sheet having a first set of concertina folds and, so as to be across these when the sheet is folded, a second set of concertina folds, and a first stiff portion that is attached to one corner of the sheet and has one end that folds over the sheet when folded to cover it and is folded over at the other end to capture said one end of the portion when it covers the sheet, characterised in that the article comprises a second stiff portion which is attached to the diagonally opposite corner of the sheet and extends to cover substantially the whole sheet when folded.

2. An article as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said second stiff portion has the same kind of surface as one or both adjacent faces of said first stiff portion when its said one end uncovers the sheet.

3. An article as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said folded over other end of said first stiff portion does not cover any part of said sheet when folded.

4. An articleaas claimed in claim 3, characterised in that said folded over other end of said first stiff portion does not cover any part of said second stiff portion when said sheet is folded.

5. An article as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the segment of the sheet defined at said one corner by folding the sheet is attached by substantially the whole of its area to said one stiff portion.

6. An article as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that said folded over other end of said one stiff portion has no fastening or otherwise to support it in being folded apart from its own stiffness.

7. An article as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that it is of credit card size, namely 5 to 5 cm. by .2 to 8 cm.

8. A folding sheet article comprising a folded sheet and two stiff portions attached to diagonally opposite corners of the sheet, one of which covers the sheet when folded, the article being substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore described.

9. A folding sheet article comprising a folded sheet and two stiff portions attached to diagonally opposite corners of the sheet, one of which covers the sheet when folded, the article being substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore described.

lO.A folding sheet article substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore described with reference to and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

9. A folding sheet article substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore described with reference to and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawing Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

1. A folding sheet article comprising a sheet having a first set of concertina folds and, so as to be across these when the sheet is folded, a second set of concertina folds, and a folding stiff portion that is attached to one corner of the sheet and has one end that folds over the sheet when folded to cover it, the article comprising means to capture said folded over end of the portion when it covers the sheet, characterised in that the article comprises means to facilitate grasping and opening the sheet.

2. A folding sheet article comprising a sheet having a first set of concertina folds and, so as to be across these when the sheet is folded, a second set of concertina folds, and a folding first stiff portion that is attached to one corner of the sheet and has one end that folds over the sheet when folded to cover it and is folded over at the other end to capture said one end of the portion when it covers the sheet, characterised in that the article comprises a second stiff portion which is attached to the diagonally opposite corner of the sheet and extends to cover substantially the whole sheet when folded.

3. An article as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said second stiff portion has the same kind of surface as one or both adjacent faces of said first stiff portion when its said one end uncovers the sheet.

4. An article as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterised in that said folded over other end of said first stiff portion does not cover any part of said sheet when folded.

5. An article as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that said folded over other end of said first stiff portion does not cover any part of said second stiff portion when said sheet is folded.

6. An article as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, characterised in that said folded over other end of said one stiff portion has no fastening or otherwise to support it in being folded apart from its own stiffness.

7. An article as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that the segment of the sheet defined at said one corner by the folding of the sheet is attached by substantially the whole of its area to said folding stiff portion.

8. An article as claimed in any preceding claim, characterised in that it is of credit card size, namely 5 to 5d cm by 8 to 8d cm.