Abstract: A machine for the manufacture of a panel file for the storage of flat, flexible data elements is herein disclosed. A sheet of flexible resilient material is unrolled from an arbor. The material is cut into strips and rolled onto reels. The strips are substantially narrower than the depth of the pockets to be formed in the panel file. The reels are mounted on a strip aligning mechanism so that as the strips are unloaded from the reels they are in a parallel overlapping relationship. The strips are then pulled through an accumulator and placed in a heat sealing die. In the heat sealing die, the strips are joined to each other proximate the ends thereof to form a layered panel of overlapping pocket entrances. Also in the heat sealing die, a pocket forming sheet is attached to the back of the layered panel of strips.

Abstract: A panel file, for the storage of flat, flexible data elements, consists of plural, vertically spaced pockets, the entrances of which are formed by a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending strips of resilient material. The strips are arranged so as to have an upper edge which overlaps the lower portion of the next upwardly adjacent strip. The strips are fastened together at their lateral margins. The lower portions of the pockets are formed by a support sheet which is attached to the panel on the surface opposite the pocket entrances. The support sheet is cut so as to have a column of inverted "V"-shaped straps, each having a vertex which is attached to the back of strips above overlapped portions thereof. The strips have an upwardly indented bottom edge with a central vertex at the point where the support sheet strap is attached to the next downwardly adjacent strip.