Home archiving system

Abstract

 A home archiving system (1) comprising a plurality of folders (3, 4, 5) for holding contents, such as documents and the like, at least one cassette (2) for holding the folders (3, 4, 5) in a side-by-side relationship and labelling means (6, 7, 8) for aiding the user to arrange the folders (3, 4, 5) in a particular order. The cassette (2) has a front side (21) which is at least partially open for showing the folders (3, 4, 5) to the user of the home archiving system. Each of the folders (3, 4, 5) comprises two sheets (12, 13) connected to each other by means of a first folding line (15) along a first side of the folder (3, 4, 5) and being provided to enclose the contents in between them. Each folder (3, 4, 5) is provided for being placed in the cassette (2) with a second side of the folder (3, 4, 5) at the front side (21) of the cassette (2). The folder (3, 4, 5) has a protective flap (9) at this second side for protecting the contents. The protective flap (9) is provided for carrying the labelling means (6, 7, 8) and has a second folding line (10) enabling the protective flap (9) to be folded in the shape of a substantially triangular protrusion.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a home archiving system according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Many archiving systems are known in the art. In particular, such an archiving system comprises a plurality of folders for holding documents and the like, a cassette for holding the folders in a side-by-side relationship and labelling means such as stickers, by means of which the correct order of the folders can be determined by the user.

[0003] However, in such archiving systems it is often a problem for the user to see the stickers when the folders are placed in the cassette. More particularly, the sticker of one folder is often covered by another folder, so the user has to spread them apart to be able to see the sticker and to determine what each file is holding. As a result, a lot of time can pass before the user finds the file he is actually looking for.

[0004] It is an aim of the present invention to provide a home archiving system by means of which the amount of time needed for finding a particular folder can be considerably reduced.

[0005] This aim is achieved according to the invention with a home archiving system showing the technical characteristics of the characterising part of the first claim.

[0006] In the home archiving system of the invention, each of the folders comprises two sheets, which are connected to each other by means of a first folding line along a first side of the folder and are provided to enclose contents, such as documents, in between them. Each folder is provided for being placed in the cassette with a second side of the folder at the front side of the cassette. At this second side, the folder has a protective flap for protecting the contents, which is also provided for carrying the labelling means. This protective flap is provided with a second folding line enabling the protective flap to be folded in the shape of a substantially triangular protrusion.

[0007] As a result, when the folders of the home archiving system of the invention are stored in the cassette, each folder has a triangular protrusion at the front, i.e. two flap portions which protrude in a slanting direction from the front side of the cassette. In this way, the protruding sides of the protective flap are highly visible to the user from both the left side and the right side of the cassette. This visibility and the fact that the labelling means are placed on the protective flap can help the user in finding the folder he is looking for.

[0008] The protective flap of each folder is connected to a first of the two sheets and preferably has a contact portion for contacting a second of the two sheets. Between the first sheet and the contact portion, the protective flap comprises a rigid bridge portion. The second folding line is preferably located substantially in the middle of the bridge portion. The bridge portion is rigid in the sense that it does not have other folding lines other than the central, second folding line. The second folding line may also be located offset from the middle of the bridge portion, i.e. nearer to the first sheet or the contact portion. The central position is however preferred, since this provides an equal visibility of the bridge halves on both sides of the second folding line.

[0009] The bridge portion is preferably connected to the first sheet by means of a third folding line and to the contact portion by means of a fourth folding line. The second, third and fourth folding lines preferably extend substantially parallel to each other. In this way, it can be ensured that the protective flap folds correctly for achieving maximum visibility of the bridge halves.

[0010] The labelling means of the home archiving system of the invention preferably comprise a plurality of stickers with mutually distinguishable symbols. These stickers are provided for being attached on the protective flaps. Alternatively, the labelling means may also be printed directly on the protective flaps of the folders.

[0011] The stickers preferably comprise two halves for being attached on either side of the second folding line of the protective flap. The symbols of each sticker are provided on both halves, so that the contents of the folder can be determined by the user from either side.

[0012] The mutually distinguishable symbols of the stickers may comprise alphanumerical symbols, coloured areas which gradually shade off into each other, or any other symbols known to the person skilled in the art, or a combination of these different types of symbols.

[0013] The back side of the cassette of the home archiving system of the invention is preferably provided with a shelf engaging member, by means of which the cassette can be fixed on for example a shelf of a book case. In this way, unwanted removal of the cassette from the shelf can be prevented.

[0014] The invention will be further elucidated by means of the following description and the appended figures.

[0015] Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the home archiving system of the invention.

[0016] Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the cassette of the embodiment of figure 1.

[0017] Figure 3 shows one of the folders of the embodiment of figure 1 in unfolded state.

[0018] Figure 4 shows one of the folders of the embodiment of figure 1 in folded state.

[0019] Figure 5 shows a perspective view of one of the folders of the embodiment of figure 1.

[0020] Figure 6 shows a plurality of sheets of labelling stickers, used in the embodiment of figure 1.

[0021] The home archiving system 1 shown in figure 1 comprises a cassette 2 and a plurality of folders 3, 4, 5 for holding documents and the like. The cassette 2 is provided for holding the folders 3, 4, 5 in a side-by-side relationship and has an open front side 21, so that the user can see the folders 3, 4, 5. On the front side 21, each of the folders 3, 4, 5 comprises a protective flap 31 on which a labelling sticker 6, 7, 8 is attached. This protective flap 9 has a central folding line 10, as a result of which the protective flap 9 takes the form of a triangular protrusion with two flap portions 11, 12 protruding in different slanting directions from the front side 21 of the cassette 2.

[0022] As a result, when the folders 3, 4, 5 of the home archiving system 1 of figure 1 are stored in the cassette 2, each folder 3, 4, 5 has two flap portions 11, 12 viewable from different angles. In this way, the visibility of the protective flap 9 towards the user from both the left side and the right side of the cassette 2 is enhanced. This enhanced visibility and the fact that the labelling stickers 6, 7, 8 are attached on the protective flap 31 can help the user in finding the folder he is looking for.

[0023] As shown in figure 2, the cassette 2 is generally parallelepiped-shaped and comprises a left side 22 and a substantially parallel right side 23, spaced apart from each other by a bottom side 20 and a back side 24. The back side 24 is opposite the open front side 21 and the bottom side 24 is in turn opposite a top side 25, which also conveniently left open. The back side 26 is outwardly provided with a shelf engaging member 26, by means of which undesired removal of the cassette 2 from a shelf can be prevented. At the front, the bottom side is provided with a downwardly depending ridge 27, by means of which the placement of the cassette 2 in line with the front side of a shelf is facilitated. The bottom side 20 is provided with longitudinal ribs (not shown) for preventing sliding of the folders 3, 4, 5 in cross direction or maintaining them in place.

[0024] In figure 2, the front side 21 of the cassette 2 is fully open. Alternatively, the front side may also be partly closed, for example near the bottom side 20, for better holding the folders 3, 4, 5. The top side 25 may also be partly or even fully closed if desired. Furthermore, the cassette 2 may also have any other shape known to the person skilled in the art.

[0025] The cassette 2 is preferably constructed in a plastic material, but may also be constructed in any other material known to the person skilled in the art. The folders 3, 4, 5 are preferably constructed in plastic coated paper or cardboard, with preferably mylar® as coating.

[0026] The folder 3 shown in figures 3-5 has a front sheet 13 and a back sheet 14, which are connected by means of a first folding line 15 and are provided for enclosing documents and the like between them. The protective flap 9, which is provided with the central or second folding line 10 for achieving the triangular shape, is connected to the back sheet 14 by means of a third folding line 16. The protective flap 9 comprises a rigid bridge portion 19 and a contact portion 18. The latter is provided for contacting the front sheet 13. The bridge portion 19 is formed by the two flap portions 11 and 12, which are in turn divided by the second folding line 10, and is rigid in the sense that the flap portions 11 and 12 do not have further folding lines. The contact portion 18 is connected to the bridge portion by a fourth folding line 17. The third 16, second (central) 10 and fourth 17 folding lines are substantially parallel to each other.

[0027] In the embodiment of figures 3-5, the protective flap 9 is connected to the back sheet 14. Alternatively, the protective flap 9 may also be connected to the front sheet 13, in which case the contact portion 18 will contact the back sheet 14 in use. In figures 3-5, the protective flap 9 is provided on a side perpendicular to that of the first folding line 15, which connects the front and back sheets 13, 14. Alternatively, the protective flap 9 may also be provided on the side opposite the first folding line 15. Furthermore, the second folding line 10 may be located offset from the middle of the bridge portion 19 and the folding lines 16, 10, 17 of the flap 9 may enclose a slight angle between each other, leading to a triangular protrusion which widens or narrows from top to bottom.

[0028] The labelling stickers 6, 7, 8 shown in figure 6 each have an alphanumerical symbol 28 and a coloured section 29 for enabling identification by the user. The symbols 28 and the sections 29 are chosen such, that successive stickers 6, 7, 8 have successive symbols 28 and coloured sections 29 which gradually shade off into each other. In this way, the sequence of folders 3, 4, 5 in the cassette 2 is visualised in two ways.

[0029] The stickers 6, 7, 8 each have a blank section 30, on which the user can write a reference to the contents of the folder. Each labelling sticker 6, 7, 8 is composed of two halves 31, 32, one for each flap portion 11, 12 of the protective flap 9. Each half 31, 32 carries the symbol 28 and the coloured section 29.

[0030] The adhesive which is applied on the back side of the stickers 6, 7, 8 can be any adhesive known to the person skilled in the art. Alternatively, the labelling can also be printed directly onto the protective flaps 9 of the folders 3, 4, 5.

Reference list

[0031] 

1

Home archiving system

2

Cassette

3

Folder

4

Folder

5

Folder

6

Labelling sticker

7

Labelling sticker

8

Labelling sticker

9

Protective flap

10

Central (second) folding line

11

Flap portion

12

Flap portion

13

Front sheet

14

Back sheet

15

First folding line

16

Third folding line

17

Fourth folding line

18

Contact portion

19

Bridge portion

20

Bottom side

21

Front side

22

Left side

23

Right side

24

Back side

25

Top side

26

Shelf engaging member

27

Ridge

28

Alphanumerical symbols

29

Coloured section

30

Blank section

31

Half

32

Half

Claims

1. A home archiving system (1) comprising a plurality of folders (3, 4, 5) for holding contents, such as documents and the like, at least one cassette (2) for holding the folders (3, 4, 5) in a side-by-side relationship and labelling means (6, 7, 8) for aiding the user to arrange the folders (3, 4, 5) in a particular order, the cassette (2) having a front side (21) which is at least partially open for showing the folders (3, 4, 5) to the user of the home archiving system, each of the folders (3, 4, 5) comprising two sheets (12, 13) connected to each other by means of a first folding line (15) along a first side of the folder (3, 4, 5) and being provided to enclose the contents in between them, each folder (3, 4, 5) being provided for being placed in the cassette (2) with a second side of the folder (3, 4, 5) at the front side (21) of the cassette (2), the folder (3, 4, 5) having a protective flap (9) at this second side for protecting the contents, characterised in that the protective flap (9) is provided for carrying the labelling means (6, 7, 8) and has a second folding line (10) enabling the protective flap (9) to be folded in the shape of a substantially triangular protrusion.

2. A home archiving system according to claim 1, characterised in that the protective flap of each folder (3, 4, 5) is connected to a first of said sheets (14) and has a contact portion (18) for contacting a second of said sheets (13) and a rigid bridge (19) portion in between the first sheet (14) and the contact portion (18), the second folding line (10) being located substantially in the middle of the bridge portion (19).

3. A home archiving system according to claim 2, characterised in that the bridge portion (19) is connected to the first sheet (14) by means of a third folding line (16) and to the contact portion (18) by means of a fourth folding line (17), the second, third and fourth folding lines extending substantially parallel to each other.

4. A home archiving system according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the labelling means comprise a plurality of stickers (6, 7, 8) with mutually distinguishable symbols (28, 29), the stickers (6, 7, 8) being provided for being attached on the protective flaps (9).

5. A home archiving system according to claim 4, characterised in that each of the stickers (6, 7, 8) comprises two halves (31, 32) for being attached on either side of the second folding line (10), the symbols (28, 29) of each sticker (6, 7, 8) being provided on both halves (31, 32).

6. A home archiving system according to claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the symbols comprise alphanumerical symbols (28).

7. A home archiving system according to any one of the claims 4-6, characterised in that the symbols comprise a sequence of colour areas (29) which gradually shade of into each other.

8. A home archiving system according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the cassette (2) comprises a back side (24) opposite the front side (21), the back side being provided with a shelf engaging member (26).

9. A plurality of folders (3, 4, 5) as part of a home archiving system (1) according to any one of the claims 1-8.

10. A cassette (2) as part of a home archiving system according (1) to any one of the claims 1-8.

11. A plurality of stickers (6, 7, 8) as part of a home archiving system (1) according to any one of the claims 1-8.

Drawing