GB2317588A

GB2317588A - Concertina foldable sheet with foldable cover

Info

Publication number: GB2317588A
Application number: GB9619595A
Authority: GB
Inventors: La Hunty Patrick De
Original assignee: LITTLE BOOK Co Ltd TH
Current assignee: LITTLE BOOK Co Ltd TH
Priority date: 1996-09-19
Filing date: 1996-09-19
Publication date: 1998-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 2016-09-19
Also published as: GB9619595D0; GB2317588B

Abstract

A foldable sheet 1 is attached at one corner to the inside back cover portion of a foldable cover 2 and comprises first and second sets of mutually perpendicular concertina folds 6,7, both sets of folds comprising an even number of folds.

Description

Foldable Sheet The present invention concerns a sheet construction adapted to be easily unfolded for use and refolded for storage. The sheet further comprises a cover for protection of the sheet and for convenience of use and storage.

Folded sheets are common and are known for a number of purposes. They are found with different types and combinations of folds to satisfy the different demands made of them. Often they comprise stiffening portions or covers of one form or another to protect the sheet when folded or unfolded.

The present invention concerns foldable sheets which fulfil specific structural requirements which give rise, in use, to the advantages set out and discussed below.

The present invention provides a foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, both pluralities of folds comprising an even number of folds.

Concertina folds are folds which are alternately towards and away from the front of the sheet. It will be appreciated that one set of folds is made before the other. Each member of the first set made extends between opposite edges of the sheet in a given direction while those in the second set reverse at each intersection with a member of the first set of folds An even number of folds in each direction allows the sheet to be attached to the cover by one corner and for the diagonally opposite corner to be free and in the best position to enable unfolding of the sheet in one easy movement. The cover may be held in one hand and opened to reveal a front segment of the sheet with the free corner showing. The corner may be grasped, without the need to turn it back, and a diagonal movement away from the hinge portion may be used to extend the sheet.

This is explained in more detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment shown in the drawings. To refold the sheet the reverse action may be taken, i.e., movement of the appropriate corner in a direction opposite to that used to unfold the sheet will cause refolding of the sheet. Damage caused to the sheet by unfolding and refolding is reduced by the ease with which the action may be taken and the fact that it is not necessary to turn back the corner to do so.

The present invention also provides a foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, such that when the cover is held with the hinge portion on the left, the sheet is attached by its top left hand corner and a free unfolded corner is present at the bottom right hand corner which may be grasped and pulled in a movement diagonally to the right and down thereby unfolding both sets of concertina folds in one movement.

The above embodiment is preferred in countries in which the local language is read from left to right and from the top of a page to the bottom of a page. It will be understood that where that is not the case a different format will be preferred.

Accordingly, the present invention further provides a foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, such that when the cover is held with the hinge portion on the right, the sheet is attached by its top right hand corner and a free unfolded corner is present at the bottom left hand corner which may be grasped and pulled in a movement diagonally to the left and down thereby unfolding both sets of concertina folds in one movement.

The present invention further provides a foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions being of substantially flat construction and each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, the sheet when folded fitting within the cover in its closed position, which cover in its closed position has maximum dimensions of 90mm by 60mm.

Advantageously, both pluralities of folds comprise an even number of folds. The first set preferably comprises 2, 4, 6 or 8 folds and the second set preferably comprises 2, 4, 6 or 8 folds. Preferably, the second set of folds comprises a larger number of folds than the first set. In a preferred embodiment, the first set comprises 2 folds and the second set comprises 4 or more folds, preferably 6 folds.

The sheet may be formed from any suitable material.

The material should be capable of taking folds such that it may be unfolded and refolded without the folds disappearing. It may be paper, for example, 100g/m2 art paper, thin card, plastics sheet, or any other suitable flexible material.

The cover may be made of ay suitable material. It will usually be of a material which is relatively stiff in comparison with that of the foldable sheet but need not be so in all cases. Suitable materials include card, relatively stiff plastics sheet and plastic coated card.

Advantageously the cover will be made of a waterproof material so that some protection is provided for the foldable sheet from damage by water, coffee and other liquids.

The front and the back cover portions are preferably rectangular. Advantageously, they are the same size or only differ in size by a small amount. Preferably the length of the two edges of each cover portion adjacent to the hinge portion is smaller than the length of the edge opposite the hinge portion and the edge parallel to, or forming part of, the hinge portion.

Advantageously, the foldable sheet is attached to the internal face of the back cover portion and references above to the cover being held with the hinge portion on the left, or right, as the case may be, refer to the embodiments in which the hinge lies to the left, or right, of the location of attachment of the sheet.

The cover comprises front and back cover portions, preferably of substantially flat construction, and a hinge portion. The hinge portion may be constructed in any number of ways. Advantageously, the cover may be formed from a single sheet of material folded in two, in which case the hinge portion is formed by the fold.

Preferably, the hinge portion is formed by two folds a relatively small distance apart. Such a hinge portion acts like the spine of a book and allows room for the sheet once folded to lie neatly between the front and back cover portions. Although commonly the front and back cover portions and the hinge portion will all be formed from a single sheet of material, it is envisaged that the front and back portions may be separate members, which may or may not be of the same material, and the hinge portion will then have the function of holding the front and back portions together. Such a hinge may, for example, comprise a plurality of individual strips of material attached to both the front and back portions of the cover.

The foldable sheet of the invention is preferably of such a size that it is convenient for the user to carry. Preferably the sheet once folded into the cover will be approximately the size of a credit card and may therefore be conveniently stored in a standard credit card wallet, a wallet, a purse, a ticket wallet, for example, those supplied with railway season tickets, or a small pocket, for example, an inside pocket, especially the ticket pocket, of a typical suit jacket. The folded sheet when folded will fit within the cover and the larger cover portion, front or back, will preferably have a maximum size of 90mm by 60mm. Advantageously, the maximum size will be 80mm by 50mm.

As well as storage advantages, a small size enables the user to hold the sheet in one hand by holding the cover portion between the thumb and fore-finger and to unfold the sheet with the other hand by grasping the free corner of the sheet. Thus, there is no problem with needing to find a surface on which to rest the unfolded sheet as is often the case with standard sized maps and other folded materials.

The sheet of the invention may be used for a multitude of purposes. Any information which an individual may wish to carry may be printed on the sheet.

The cover may be plain or decorated and may also comprise further printed material. The use of a first set of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second set parallel to the line of the hinge portion means that the sheet when folded gives a series of surface areas, panels, resembling the pages of a book. The sheet may be extended or partly extended in a direction perpendicular to the line of the hinge and in the plane of the cover portion to which the sheet is attached, to make a number of those "pages" visible without it being necessary to completely unfold the sheet. There are two sides to the partially unfolded sheet. Unfolding the sheet then allows sight of the full front and back of the sheet. Information of greatest importance or that most often consulted may be placed on the area of the sheet which may be viewed in a partially expanded state. Accordingly, information is preferably printed on at least two separate panels such that when at least one of the folds of the second plurality of folds is at least partially opened out selected portions of the information are displayed.

The present invention therefore also provides a foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, the folds defining panels, information being printed on at least two separate panels such that when at least one of the folds of the second plurality of folds is at least partially opened out selected portions of the information are displayed.

A panel is an area of the sheet defined by two adjacent folds of the first plurality and two adjacent folds of the second plurality, or for this purpose, an edge of the sheet may define the edge of a panel in place of one of the folds of the first plurality and/or one of the folds of the second plurality.

One preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in greater detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an illustration of a foldable sheet according to the invention completely folded and lying within the cover.

Figure 2 is an illustration of the folded sheet in a partially unfolded state.

Figure 3 is an illustration of the folded sheet in a fully unfolded state.

Figure 1 shows a folded sheet, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, attached to a cover, indicated generally by the reference numeral 2, in a fully folded state. The cover comprises a front cover portion, 3, a back cover portion, 4, and a hinge portion, 5. The dotted line YY is the line of the hinge portion.

The sheet when fully folded lies neatly within the boundary of the cover so that when the cover is in a closed position none of the sheet extends beyond the cover. In the preferred embodiment shown in the Figures, both the sets of concertina folds comprise an even number of folds. This means that if the sheet is attached by its upper left hand corner to the internal face of the back cover, as shown in the Figures, then a free corner, marked as X, is positioned at the bottom right hand corner. The user need only grasp the corner X and pull, either sideways or diagonally downwards, as shown by the arrows to extend the sheet, either partially, as shown in Figure 2, or fully, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2 shows the sheet partially unfolded.

Members of the second plurality of folds, generally indicated by the reference numeral 7, are visible. In this format the folded sheet and cover are similar to a pullout book. It is possible to see part of the front and back surfaces of the sheet without fully unfolding the sheet. In fact, it is not necessary even to unfold the sheet to the extent shown in Figure 2. It is possible to open an individual concertina fold to view the panels, generally indicated by reference numeral 8, either side of that fold.

Figure 3 shows the sheet almost fully unfolded.

This is easily achieved from either the fully folded form of Figure 1 or the partially unfolded form of Figure 2.

In either case, all that is required is to grasp corner X and pull the sheet in the appropriate direction, diagonally to open the fully folded sheet or parallel to the hinge line to open the partially folded sheet shown in Figure 2. In neither case is there any need to turn back the corner thus minimising damage to the sheet on unfolding and refolding.

Members of the first plurality of folds, generally indicated by the reference numeral 6, are visible. As may be seen, members of the second plurality of folds, 7, reverse direction where they intersect with a member of the first plurality of folds, 6. The folds, 6 and 7, define the panels, 8.

Claims

1. A foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, both pluralities of folds comprising an even number of folds.

2. A foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, such that when the cover is held with hinge portion on the left, the sheet is attached by its top left hand corner and a free unfolded corner is present at the bottom right hand corner which may be grasped and pulled in a movement diagonally to the right and down thereby unfolding both sets of concertina folds in one movement.

3. A foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, such that when the cover is held with the hinge portion on the right, the sheet is attached by its top right hand corner and a free unfolded corner is present at the bottom left hand corner which may be grasped and pulled in a movement diagonally to the left and down thereby unfolding both sets of concertina folds in one movement.

4. A foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, the folds defining panels, information being printed on at least two separate panels such that when at least one of the folds of the second plurality of folds is at least partially opened out selected portions of the information are displayed.

5. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cover in its closed position has maximum dimensions of 90mm by 60mm.

6. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the front and back cover portions are of substantially flat construction.

7. A foldable sheet attached at one corner to a cover, the cover comprising a front cover portion, a hinge portion and a back cover portion, the cover being movable between an open position and a closed position, the front and back cover portions being of substantially flat construction and each having an internal face and an external face such that in the closed position the internal faces face each other, the sheet being attached to one internal face only and comprising a first plurality of concertina folds perpendicular to the line of the hinge portion and a second plurality of concertina folds parallel to the line of the hinge portion, the sheet when folded fitting within the cover in its closed position, which cover in its closed position has maximum dimensions of 90mm by 60mm.

8. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein both pluralities of folds comprise an even number of folds.

9. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 wherein information is printed on at least two separate panels defined by the folds such that when at least one of the folds of the second plurality of folds is at least partially opened out selected portions of the information are displayed.

10. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the front and the back cover portions are rectangular.

11. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the sheet once folded into the cover, with the cover in its closed position, is approximately the size of a credit card.

12. A foldable sheet as claimed in claim 11, wherein the cover in a closed position has a maximum size of 80mm by 50mm.

13. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the front and the back cover portions are the same size or only differ in size by a small amount.

14. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the length of the two edges of each cover portion adjacent to the hinge portion is smaller than the length of the edge opposite the hinge portion and the edge parallel to, or forming part of, the hinge portion.

15. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the cover is formed from a single sheet of material folded in two and the hinge portion is formed by the fold or folds.

16. A foldable sheet as claimed in claim 15, wherein the hinge portion is formed by two folds a relatively small distance apart.

17. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the first plurality of folds comprises 2, 4, 6 or 8 folds.

18. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the second plurality of folds comprises 2, 4, 6 or 8 folds.

19. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the second plurality of folds comprises a larger number of folds than the first plurality.

20. A foldable sheet as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first plurality comprises 2 folds and the second plurality comprises 4 or more folds.

21. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the foldable sheet is attached to the internal face of the back cover portion.

22. A foldable sheet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the cover is made of a waterproof material.

23. A foldable sheet substantially as described herein and with reference to or as illustrated by any one of the drawings.