FOLDER NOTEBOOKS
A folder is disclosed having one or more bound edges and one or more free edges, one or more folder tabs extending from one or more free edges, and a plurality of pages bound to the folder. The pages may be bound to the folder using adhesive, string, staples or other attachment mechanisms. The folder may fit within a traditional file drawer.
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This Application is a continuation of International Application PCT/US10/039512, filed Jun. 22, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Applications 61/219,169, filed Jun. 22, 2009 and 61/222,611, filed Jul. 2, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUNDBinders are typically used in home, office and school settings to provide portable storage devices for information. Typically they have a front and back cover connected at the spine and a binding mechanism attached to the spine. The binders can hold other notebooks, paper, pencil/pen pouches or the like.
While the binders generally contain a lot of information it is not always easy to access multiple documents at once within the traditional binder design. This is because one generally can only look at the front side of one document contained within the binder at a time. In order to view multiple documents a user must flip between spots in the binder or remove the needed pages from binder and risk damaging, loosing or messing up the organization of the binder.
Accordingly there is a need for a binder that allows a user to view multiple documents at one time while still holding them all securely within the binder.
In addition, having a pen and pencil pouch located within the binder can prevent the binder from closing as much as possible and prevent the pages contained within from laying flat. In addition it is not always convenient or possible to access these pouches when needed.
Accordingly there is a need for an external storage pocket to hold documents, calculators, writing instruments, rulers, compasses, planners, schedules, pouches to hold writing utensils or the like.
File folders also are typically used in home or office settings for various purposes, mainly focused on the storage and retrieval of information. Typically they have a tab for quick identification of the subject matter contained within the file. However, these folders generally are used to hold loose papers or documents.
Loose papers may slide out of the file folders and get misplaced. Accordingly, file folders have been designed to contain temporary binding features such as brads within the folder to hold hole punched papers in place. However, the temporary binding feature is inconvenient as not all paper comes with holes punched at the right location and distances to be easily inserted in such a folder. In addition, there are specific hole-punches required to get the distance correct on the paper for the spacing of the brads or other connectors.
Accordingly, there is a need for a file folder with permanently attached pages for containing and organizing information.
SUMMARYThe present application covers a bound component for storing information and including a binder with one or more covers having one or more bound edges and one or more free edges and one or more additional binder sections added to a free edge of the one or more binder covers to provide an additional storage place or recording place for information. It also covers a bound component having the binding component along a free edge and two additional binder panels connected thereto.
In another embodiment, a bound component for storing information, includes a binder having one of more covers having one or more bound edges and having one or more free edges and having an external facing side and an internal facing side and wherein the external side of the one or more covers has one or more pockets to provide an additional storage location.
The application also covers a bound component for storing information and including a folder with one or more covers having one or more bound edges, one or more free edges, a spine and a tab extending from one or more free edges and a plurality of pages bound to the inside of the folder. It also covers a bound component for storing information having one or more covers with one or more bound edges and one or more free edges, and one or more tabs extending from the one or more bound edges.
In another embodiment, the application covers a bound component for storing information and including a folder having one or more bound edges, one or more free edges and a tab extending from one or more free rear cover edges and an indention cut into one or more free front cover edges, a plurality of pages bound to the inside of the folder and it may have one or more pages of the plurality of pages with a designated information area that aligns with the cut in portion on the folder cover.
In yet another embodiment the bound component may have one or more internal dividers as well to further organize information. In still another embodiment one or more additional file side sections may be added to one or more free edges of the front and/or rear cover. Such additional file section may have a plurality of pages attached to it as well. Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the products disclosed herein will become more apparent from the following detailed description.
As shown in
Looking at
The bound component 10 may have one or more binder extensions 22 attached to a free edge of front cover 12. The one or more binder extensions 22 may be hingedly connected. The one or more binder extensions 22 may be attached at connection point 23 to the front cover 12 by using a fold line, staples, adhesive, sewing, stitching, heat sealing, stamping or the like. The binder extension 22 could be made removable through the use of snaps, hook and loop fastener, resealable adhesive, zipper or the like. It is to be understood that the binder extension 22 may also be connected to a free edge of back cover 16. It may be beneficial for the binder extension 22 to be positioned on a cover not holding the binding mechanism 18 in order to provide more storage capacity and access to the documents without interfering with the rings. It is to be understood that to further increase storage capacity one or more pockets 20 may be provided on both sides of the binder extension 22. It is also to be understood that the binder extension may also have its own binding mechanism attached to it along the one or more free edges as in
The one or more binder extensions 22 may have one or more pockets 20 as described previously. The one or more binder extension 22 may have one or more transparent pockets 20. The one or more binder extensions may have one or more non-transparent pockets 20. The one or more binder extension 22 may have a plurality of pages attached. The plurality of pages may be non-permanently bound to the one or more additional sides by using a slot to hold in a backing portion to the plurality of pages or a portion of the plurality of pages themselves. The plurality of pages may contain one or more of the following or a combination of the following: sticky notes of various sizes; lines paper; calendar pages; graph paper or any of the other types of pages. It is to be understood that the one or more binder extensions may fold inward so as to preserve the shape and size of the bound component 10 for storage purposes and/or to protect the information contained in the one or more binder extensions. It is to be understood that the one or more binder extensions 22 may be comprised of the same material as the front cover 12 and back cover 16 of the bound component 10 or a different material than the front cover 12 and back cover 16 of the bound component 10. It is to be understood that the one or more binder extensions could be transparent. The binder 10 and binder extension 22 may be made of vinyl, poly propylene, fabric, polyethylene, cardboard, paper and or a combination of any of these. It is to be understood that vinyl is the material preferred for student binders, but manufacturing preferences may prefer the use of any of the other listed materials.
The one or more binder extensions 22 may be the same size as the cover to which the binder extension is attached. The one or more binder extensions 22 may be smaller than the cover to which it is attached. The one or more binder extensions 22 may be larger than cover to which it is attached. The one or more binder extensions 22 may be over ¾ the size of the cover to which it is attached; up to ¾ the size of the cover to which it is attached; up to ½ the size of the cover to which it is attached; up to ¼ the size of the cover to which it is attached. It is to be understood that the binder 10 may close more easily if the binder extension 22 is smaller than the cover to which it is attached.
The one or more binder extensions 22 may be horizontally aligned with the spine 14 of the binder 10 (
In another embodiment, illustrated in
The one or more external pockets 24 may have one or more closure flaps 26. The one or more closure flaps may be attached to the front cover 12 or rear cover 16 by a fold line, adhesive, stitching, sewing, staples, heat sealed or the like. The one or more closure flaps 26 may also be hingedly attached to the pocket 24 by fold line, adhesive, stitching, sewing, staples, heat sealing or the like. The closure flaps 26 may be removably attached to the pocket at attachment point 28 using hook and loop fastener, magnets, reattachable adhesive, bungee cord, tie, clasp, button, clip, hook, ring, snap or other such means. Attachment point 28 may have various shapes, including but not limited to rectangles, squares, ovals, circles, polygons, and combinations thereof. It is to be understood a zipper closure means could be used in lieu of closure flap 26 or to close the closure flap 26. It is also to be understood that the removable attachment point may be adjusted based on manufacturing preferences.
The external pocket may be oriented such that the opening 36 is facing the spine 14, is parallel to the spine 14 but facing the free edge (
The external pocket 24 may be affixed to the outside of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16. The closing flap 26 may be affixed to one or more outside edges of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16. The pocket 24 may be affixed around one or more outer edges of the cover, such that one or more pocket openings 36 are formed between the outside of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16 and the inside of pocket 24. Affixing the pocket 24 and the flap 26 using a heat sealing method may have manufacturing benefits such as reduced production cost and increased production speed. The pocket 24 may be separated into compartments or multiple pockets 24 and/or multiple flaps 26 may be affixed on the front cover 12 or rear cover 16. It is to be understood that manufacturing preferences may determine whether the pocket 24 and/or flap 26 are affixed to the outside edge of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16, inside the edges of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16, or anywhere else on the outer surface of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16.
The external pocket 24 may be removably attached. In such an instance the external pocket would have one or more interior wall that would removably attach to the outside of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16. Removable attachments may include hook and loop fastener, resealable adhesive, snaps, buttons, hooks magnets, bungee cords or the like. Manufacturing preferences may prefer that the closure flap 26 be affixed to the pocket 24 rather than outside of the front cover 12 or rear cover 16.
The one or more external pockets 24 may be expandable as shown in
The pocket opening 36 may be formed between the external side of the cover to which it is attached and the internal side of the pocket attachment 24. A variety of materials could be used to create the binder 10 and external pocket 24, including fabric, plastic and/or vinyl. Vinyl has not been used previously to form this type of pocket 24. Manufacturing and production is faster with vinyl materials and the materials are cheaper. The current application combines the functionality of the sewn binder and adds it to the vinyl binder construction
External pocket 24 may be the same length and width as the cover to which it is attached. External pocket 24 may be over ¾ the size of the cover to which it is attached. External pocket 24 may be over ½ the size of the cover to which it is attached. External pocket 24 may be over 1/4 the size of the cover to which it is attached.
It is to be understood that a bound component as covered in this application may include one or more binder extensions 22 and one or more external pockets 24.
It is to be understood that the pockets 20 and/or external pocket 24 with closure flap 26 may be formed from a plastic substrate, and/or a paper substrate and may be transparent or opaque based on manufacturing preferences. The materials may be treated or coated based on manufacturing preferences. The bound component 10 may be a traditionally sized and shaped binder. The bound component 10 may be made of a plastic substrate or a paper substrate, or either type of substrate treated and/or coated based on manufacturing preferences. The identifier tabs 34 may be integral to the one or more dividers 32 or they could be sealed, adhered, attached thereto. The one or more identifier tabs 34 may be permanently deployed or optionally deployable as disclosed in U.S. Application Nos. 61/038868; 61/086550; 12/264630; 12/392183; 12/420444. The one or more identifier tabs 34 and or the front cover 12 and or the back cover 16 may be made of a non-porous material and may be able to be marked upon as disclosed in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/828073 and 10/962724. The one or more tabs 34 may have a one or more hole(s) to allow attachment to another binder.
It is to be understood that a binder 10, according to this application, may have both a binder extension 22 and an external pocket 24 with a closure flap 26.
It is also to be understood that a removable pocket 24 may be designed for other such office and school products including but not limited to a notepad 25 (as shown in
As shown in
It is to be understood that the bound component could have one or more additional sides 146 at fold line 152 attached to the front cover 112 or back cover 116 that may also contain pockets 134, 126, 138, 140, 142 and/or 144 and or a plurality of pages 114. Such a bound component is depicted in
The pockets 134, 136, 138, 140, and/or 142 may be formed from a plastic substrate, and/or a paper substrate. The materials may be treated or coated based on manufacturing preferences. The bound component may be a traditionally sized and shaped file folder. The bound component may be made of a plastic substrate or a paper substrate, or either type of substrate treated and/or coated based on manufacturing preferences. The tabs may be integral to the back cover 116 or they could be sealed, adhered, attached thereto. The tabs 118, 130 may be permanently deployed or optionally deployable as disclosed in U.S. Application Nos. 61/038868; 61/086550; 12/264630; 12/392183; 12/420444. The tabs 118, 130 may be located at the top or bottom end of the bound component, or located apart from the top or bottom ends of the bound component. If located near an end of the bound component, for example as shown with tab 118 at an upper end as in
The plurality of pages 114 may be one or more of the following or a combination of the following: lined paper, graph paper, drawing paper, blank paper, calendar pages and/or carbon copy paper. The plurality of pages 114 may be traditional sized letter paper, legal paper, or other sized paper. The front cover 112 and rear cover 116 may be sized to approximately the size as the plurality of pages 114 contained within. The plurality of pages may include one or may pages having a section for notes (lined or unlined), and one or more of the following: a section for meeting attendees, date, time, topic, objectives, action items, page, color coded sections, to-do-list, sections identified by day or date, and/or numbered lines. The plurality of pages may include one or more personal record sheets, such as health information, property (home, car, land etc . . . ) information, insurance information, financial information, contact information, or other such information of a personal nature. The section for notes may be at the top of the plurality of pages, at the side, on the right side, or at the bottom. There could be one or more plurality of pages bound to the bound components at one or more of the following locations, spine 120, the inside of front cover 112, and or the inside of back cover 116. For example, a plurality of pages 114 containing one or more types of calendar type information could be bound to the inside of front cover 112 and a plurality of pages 114 with lined note paper could be bound to the spine 120. It is to be understood the binding location may be adjusted as well as the type of pages contained within the plurality of pages 114.
The bound mechanism may be slightly larger than the plurality of pages so as to better protect the plurality of pages from damage. The front cover 112 and/or rear cover 116 may have one or more pockets on their outer surface (the cover surface not touching the plurality of pages 114). The outer surface of the front cover 112 or the back cover 116 may have a plastic sheet attached to the cover on one or more sides, on two or more sides or on less than four sides, such that a sheet of paper or other material may be protectively held between the plastic sheet and the outer side of the front cover 112 or back cover 116. The outer or inner surfaces of front cover 112 and/or rear cover 116 may have one or more areas where the user can record content information. The tabs 118, 130 and or the front cover 112 and or the back cover 116 may be made of a non-porous material and may be able to be marked upon as disclosed in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/828073 and 10/962724.
It is to be understood that the bound component may have one or more additional sides 146 at fold line 152 attached to the front cover 112 or back cover 116 that may also contain pockets 134, 126, 138, 140, 142, 144 and/or 148 and or a plurality of pages 114. Such a bound component is depicted in
The bound component may comprise a plurality of pages attached thereto along with one or more internal dividers 170 as shown in
The bound component may be similar to a traditional file folder. Such a component may have a pocket attached thereto to hold loose papers. Said pocket may be removable using such attachment means such as hook and loop fastener; removable adhesive; or other suitable materials. Said pocket may contain gussets along the side or bottom.
It is to be understood that many of these contemplated features would apply to a traditional file folder as well. As shown in
Having described the inventions in detail herein, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the inventions. It is to be understood that the bound component modifications and variations discussed herein could be used interchangeably with the various bound components described throughout this application.
Claims
1. A bound component said bound component comprising:
- two or more covers and a spine, wherein said covers each comprises one or more bound edges and one or more free edges, further wherein said one or more covers comprises one or more folder tabs extending from one or more free edges, and wherein said one or more covers has a bound edge that is attached to the spine and wherein a plurality of pages containing two or more pages are bound to the bound component by a binding mechanism.
2. The bound component of claim 1 wherein said plurality of pages are bound to the spine.
3. The bound component of claim 1 wherein the binding mechanism comprises staples.
4. The bound component of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pages includes two to five pages.
5. The bound component of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pages includes six to ten pages.
6. The bound component of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pages includes eleven to twenty pages.
7. The bound component of claim 1, further comprising one or more dividers each having a plurality of free edges and a bound edge that is bound to the bound component along the spine.
8. The bound component of claim 1, wherein at least one of the covers comprises one or more pockets.
9. The bound component of claim 8, wherein the front cover comprises one or more pockets.
10. The bound component of claim 7, wherein at least one divider covers less than half the area of a page.
11. The bound component of claim 1, further comprising one or more dividers each having a plurality of free edges and a bound edge attached to a free edge of the bound component, wherein the one or more dividers each cover less than half the area of a page.
12. The bound component of claim 7, wherein the divider comprises one or more tabs along one or more of the free edges.
13. A bound component said bound component comprising:
- two covers and a spine, wherein said each of said covers comprises one or more bound edges and one or more free edges, further wherein one or more of said covers comprises one or more folder tabs extending from one or more free edges, and wherein said covers each have a bound edge that is attached to the spine, and
- an additional panel hingedly attached to one of the covers along an edge other than the bound edge of that cover.
14. The bound component of claim 13, wherein the additional panel is hingedly attached to one of the covers along the edge of the cover opposite from the bound edge of that cover.
15. The bound component of claim 13, further comprising a tab cut in the additional panel and extending in the plane of the cover to which the additional panel is hingedly attached.
16. The bound component of claim 13, wherein the additional panel is hingedly attached to one of the covers along a hinge line at the edge of the cover opposite from the bound edge of that cover, wherein the additional panel when folded back over the cover about the hinge line covers less than half the area of one of the covers.
17. The bound component of claim 16, further comprising a tab cut in the additional panel and extending in the plane of the cover to which the additional panel is hingedly attached.
18. The bound component of claim 13, wherein the additional panel is hingedly attached to one of the covers along the edge of the cover adjacent to the bound edge of that cover.
19. The bound component of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of pages attached to one of the covers, the spine, or the additional panel.
20. The bound component of claim 19, further comprising a second plurality of pages attached to a different one of the covers, the spine, or the additional panel.
21. A file folder comprising:
- two or more covers connected by a spine, wherein one of said covers comprises at least one window or view slit;
- a card sized to slidably move relative to the window or view slit; and
- a plurality of pages bound to the file folder at the spine.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 8, 2011
Publication Date: Apr 5, 2012
Applicant: MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION (Richmond, VA)
Inventors: Denise E. Sada (Centerville, OH), Benton E. Hendee (Unadilla, NY), Kevin W. Witter (Fort Collins, CO), Christine Edwards (Norwich, NY), Anthony R. Seitz (Brooktondale, NY), Glen C. Gilmore, III (Matteson, IL), Kurtis M. Sward (Deerfield, IL)
Application Number: 13/314,889
International Classification: B42F 3/00 (20060101); B42D 3/00 (20060101); B42F 21/00 (20060101); B42F 13/20 (20060101);