Cross Reference to Related Application

[0001] This application is a non-provisional application claiming priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/615,082, filed October 1, 2004, entitled "Folders Having Expandable Portions and Methods of Making the Same," and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure pertains to containers and, more particularly, to folders having an expandable pocket and methods of making the same.

Background

[0003] Folders are oftentimes used by consumers to store loose objects, such as papers, handouts, pamphlets, or other suitable items. These folders typically include pockets for holding such items, and furthermore, in certain instances, the folder pockets may be expandable to hold items of various sizes. For example, in some folders, the sides and/or bottom of the pocket may include an accordion-type fold to allow the pocket to expand with larger volumes of stored items. While the accordion folds allow the pocket face to move as required, the folds may present challenges in either manufacturing or storing the folders. For example, in some circumstances, because of the presence of the accordion fold material, the folder and pocket may not lie flat during shipping, reducing the amount of folders that may be bundled. Similarly, the creation of the accordion fold may require complex manufacturing equipment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0004] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an example process by which a folder having an expandable pocket may be fabricated.

[0005] FIG. 2 is a plan view of an example sheet good that has been die cut to form a folder, before the folder has been assembled.

[0006] FIG. 3 is a plan view of an inside of a folder that has been fabricated from the die cut sheet good of FIG. 2 and assembled to form an expandable pocket.

[0007] FIG. 4 is an elevational perspective view of a portion of the folder of FIG. 3 showing further detail of the expandable pocket thereof, wherein the expandable pocket is shown in a partially expanded position.

[0008] FIG. 5 is an elevational perspective view similar to that of FIG. 4, but showing the expandable pocket in a further expanded position.

[0009] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a portion of the folder of FIG. 3, wherein the expandable pocket is shown as fully expanded.

Detailed Description

[0010] As disclosed herein a folder or other container includes an expandable portion formed from cuts made in material used to form a pocket section of the folder. As described in detail below the cuts that form the expandable portion may be made at the time the folder is cut from sheet goods, or may be formed during another manufacturing step as desired. The cuts also allow the expandable pocket to lie flat against the folder when unexpanded. Furthermore, the containers and methods disclosed herein may use an auto-glue process, thereby potentially reducing costs conventionally incurred with fabricating expandable portions.

[0011] While the following description is provided using an example of a bi-fold two- panel folder having expandable pockets, those having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that such concepts may be expanded to other structures. For example, the disclosed concepts may be used to fabricate a one panel folder, a folder having two of more

panels, envelopes, or other structures, each of which may have any number of expandable pockets.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1 , a fabrication process 100 includes printing images on one or more sides of a sheet good (block 102). The printing (block 102) may be enhanced or eliminated as desired or as required for the desired folder design. For example, a 28 by 40 inch piece of material may be printed on one side to provide graphics that will appear on the outside covers of the folder, as well as the front portions of the pockets. As will be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, the printing on the sheet good need not be oriented in the same direction. For example, printing on sections that will form the pocket section of the folder may be flipped in orientation from the printing on the portion that will form the outside of the folder because the orientation of the pocket section will be flipped during assembly, thereby reorienting the printing with respect to the reader. The material on which the printing is made may be of any suitable weight including, for example, 12 point material that may have a glossy or non-glossy finish.

[0013] After the printing is complete (block 102), the folder panels and the folder pockets are extracted from the printed sheet good (block 104), such as, for example, by die cutting the printed sheet good. Additionally, expansion features, which are described in detail below, may t>e formed in the appropriate location, again by, for example, die cutting the expansion features from the printed sheet good (block 106). The cutting of the panels, the pockets, and the expansion features may be accomplished in one manufacturing step, or in any number of suitable step. The results of the die cutting (blocks 104 and 106) are shown in FIG. 2, which shoves a die cut folder 200 prior to assembly.

[0014] In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the folder 200 includes a folder section 202 including front and back folder portions, such as side panels 204, 206, respectively, and a center fold line, such as a spine 208. In this example, the side panels 204, 206 form a two-

side panel folder, such that the side panel 204 forms the front of the folder, and the side panel 206 forms the back of the folder. The folder section 202 may additionally include securing flaps 210, 212 that, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 3, are folded over onto the side panels 206, 204, respectively, during folder assembly to securely retain the folder pockets.

[0015] The folder section 202 also includes a number of score lines, which are shown as dotted lines for ease of understanding and readability, to control folding of the folder section 202 along designated axes. For example, a score line 214 separates the securing flap 210 from the side panel 206 and a score line 216 separates the securing flap 212 from the side panel 204. Additionally, in this example, score lines 218, 220 separate the spine 208 from the side panels 204, 206, respectively. The folder section 202 also includes a score line 222 running along a bottom edge 224 of the folder section 202. Still further, each of the score lines may be formed with at least one accordion fold, to allow the score line to be expanded. [0016] In addition to the folder section 202, the folder 200 includes one or more pockets which may be formed by the lower panels 230, 232 extending from the bottom edge 224 of the folder portion 202. As shown in FIG. 3, after assembly is complete the lower panel 230 forms a right inside pocket between the lower panel 230 and the side panel 206, and the lower panel 232 forms a right inside pocket between the lower panel 232 and the side panel 204. The lower panel 230 has a width laying within the score lines 214 and 220 and a height that defines the depth of the pocket to be formed during assembly.

[0017] The lower panel 230 includes an expansion portion 234 that is formed by at least one expansion opening such as, for example, Z-flutes (two of which are referred to using reference numerals 236A and 236B) and, if desired, a plurality of scores (two of which are referred to using reference numerals 238 A and 238B) extending between the expansion openings. The lower panel 230 further includes a score 240, which, as described below,

accommodates expansion of the pocket formed by the joining of the lower panel 230 to the side panel 206 after assembly. At least one side of the lower panel 230, as shown in FIG. 2, defines a glue flap 242. The glue flap 242 is joinable to the side panel 206, thereby forming the right inside pocket after the lower panel 230 is folded into position during assembly. In this example, the glue flap 242 is glued to the side panel 206. Additionally, the securing flap 210 may be folded over the glue flap 242 and the side panel 206 and held in place by, for instance, additional glue, to aid in the retention of the glue flap 242 to the side panel 206. [0018] The lower panel 232 has a width that is within the score 218 and the score 216, and a height that defines the depth of the left inside pocket after assembly. Like the lower panel 230, the lower panel 232 includes an expansion portion 250 formed by at least one expansion opening such as, for instance, a plurality of Z-flutes (two of which are referred to using reference numeral 252 A and 252B) and a plurality of scores (two of which are referred to using reference numerals 254A and 254B). The lower panel 232 also includes a score 256 to accommodate expansion of the pocket formed by the joining of the lower panel 230 to the side panel 204. A glue flap 258 on the pocket section 232 may be glued under the securing flap 212 to form the left inside pocket.

[0019] Returning to FIG. 1, after the die cutting is complete (blocks 104 and 106), the lower panels 230 and 232 are folded over onto the side panels 206, 204 respectively to form the left and right inside pockets (block 108). Subsequently, the glue flaps 242, 258 are auto- glued onto the side panels (block 110). Collectively, the folding (block 108) and the auto- gluing (block 110) are referred to as folder assembly.

[0020] The result of the folding (block 108) and the auto-gluing (block 110) is shown in FIG. 3, which includes the labels "LEFT INSIDE POCKET" and "RIGHT INSIDE POCKET" as upside down to show the orientation of the lower flaps 230, 232 relative to their orientation shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, in this example, the securing flap 212 is

folded over the glue flap 258 of the lower panel 232. Similarly, the securing flap 210 is folded over the glue flap 242 of the lower panel 230. The pocket ends opposite the flaps 212 and 210 are shown in FIG. 3 as being unconnected to another structure. However, this is only one example and, in fact, the subject ends of the pockets could also include expansion portions similar or identical to the expansion portions 234 and 250. The inside of the front side panel is designated with reference numeral 260.

[0021] At the end of the process 100 of FIG. 1, which is described above in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3, the folder 200 is formed and is ready to have information inserted into the pockets thereof. As described below, owing to the expansion openings and in this embodiment, the associated scores on the lower panels 230, 232, the formed pockets may be expanded outwardly from the plane of the insides of the front and back side panels 206, 204. The expansion of the pocket and how the same is facilitated by the expansion openings and scores are described below in conjunction Λvith FIGS. 4-6, which show further detail regarding the expansion portion 250 of the lower panel 232 that forms the left inside pocket as shown in FIG. 3. It will be readily understood to those having ordinary skill in the art that the disclosure relating to the lower panel 232 is applicable to the lower panel 230. [0022] As shown in FIG. 4, the Z-flutes (e.g., 252A and 252B) gap slightly when the lower panel 232 lies mostly along the plane of the inside of the front side panel 260. As the lower panel 232 is lifted from the plane of the inside of the front side panel 260 and shifted downwardly (represented by the arrows in FIG. 5), the gapping of the Z-flutes (e.g.-, 252A and 252B) increases. The layout of the Z-flutes (e.g., 252A and 252B) and the scores (e.g., 254A and 254B) causes the material between adjacent scores 254A and 254B to move toward a vertical position that is substantially perpendicular to the inside of the front side panel 260. Accordingly, the distance between adjacent scores (e.g., 254A and 254B) defines the maximum distance the pocket section 232 may be displaced from the inside of the front side

panel 260. The distance between adjacent scores 254A and 254B is similar or identical to the spacing between the score 256 and the bottom edge of the inside of the front side panel260. This arrangement allows for substantially uniform expansion of the pocket formed between the lower panel 232 and the front side panel 204.

[0023] The positioning of the Z-flutes (e.g., 252A and 252B) and the scores (e.g., 254A and 254B) when the lower panel 232 is extended its maximum distance from the inside of the front side panel 260 is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the material between adjacent scores 254A and 254B is substantially vertical and perpendicular to the plane of the inside of the front side panel 260.

[0024] Although the following discloses example systems including, among other components, software executed on hardware, it should be noted that such systems are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware and software components could be embodied exclusively in dedicated hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware or in some combination of hardware, firmware and/or software. Accordingly, while the following describes example systems, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the examples are not the only way to implement such systems.

[0025] Although certain apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers every apparatus, method and article of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. For example, while the figures represent a folder having two pockets, it will be readily appreciated that the disclosed concepts may be applied to structures having one, three, or more panels, as well as one, two, or more pockets associated with each panel.