Organizational Insert and Album

The present invention relates to a binder insert suitable for use in a loose leaf type binder or album where the insert is designed for the display of certain information and the storage of other information. The insert and album have particular application in the recording, displaying and storing of information associated with a student's school years.

Various arrangements have been proposed for maintaining, in an organized fashion, information received during a student's school year, such information including report cards, class photos, team photos, athletic badges and scholastic badges or crests, etc. According to one prior art structure, an envelope type arrangement is presented, one envelope for each school year, where report cards and other such items may be placed within the envelope and the exterior of the envelope has been printed to allow the completion of certain information such as school year, homeroom teacher, achievements during the year and such things as noteworthy events. Systems of this type suffer in that the information, in particular pictures, etc., are stored within the envelope and must removed for observation.

There remains a need to provide a simple system which effectively displays the stored information to allow convenient review thereof without removal as well as a separate section for collected storage of other items. The system should protect the displayed and stored information and should also allow the user to record various information in a convenient manner, with this information also being available as a summary which can be conveniently reviewed. There remains a need for a simple, convenient system for recording particular information which allows display of at least some of the information and storage of other information, with all information both displayed and stored being protected from damage.

A loose leaf binder insert according to the present invention comprises first and second rectangular like sections joined along a common edge, with each section being movable about the edge from a folded orientation to an extended orientation. The first section has a pocket extending generally substantially across the first section, adapted to receive and store records. The pocket terminates adjacent a lower edge of the first section and has an upper edge terminating substantially below a top edge of the first section. The second section is of a double thickness, sealed about the sides and bottom edges, with the top edge open to allow insertion of material therein. At least some of the second section is of a transparent sheet material to display the material stored therein.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the binder insert and an associated binder for storing of the inserts;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through a folded binder insert;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the binder insert in an extended orientation;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through the binder of FIG. 1 having several inserts placed therein.

The loose leaf binder 2 generally shown in FIG. 1 is designed to receive a number of loose leaf binder inserts 4 therewithin and retain them within the binder in the conventional manner using a retaining portion 14 with rings for engagement with holes 12 of the insert 4. The binder preferably has a closing flap 3 having a velcro fastener 5 on the interior surface thereof which cooperates with a similar manner on the front face of the binder. This closing aspect is shown in FIG. 6.

The insert 4 is generally of rectangular shape and includes a first section 6, a second section 8 and a securing region 10 associated with the first section 6. The insert as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is in the folded orientation, whereas the insert of FIG. 3 is in the extended orientation.

Turning to FIG. 3, the first section 6, in addition to having the securing region 10, has a back sheet 16, a first overlying partial sheet 18 extending to the lower edge of the section 6, and a transparent overlying sheet 22 of reduced size relative to sheet 18. Both sheet 18 and 22 extend across the first section 6 and define a first pocket 38 shown in FIG. 4 and a second pocket 40. Pocket 38 is adapted to store such information as report cards, etc. which are indicated as 20 and would be removed from pocket 38 for observation. In light of this, the pocket of additional depth defined by sheet 18 in cooperation with back sheet 16 is used to assure this information is retained within the insert. In contrast, pocket 40 is adapted for the display of certain information such as class photos or individual photos which may reflect the student's participation in a band or athletic team. These pictures or capacity of pocket 40 is such that the pictures would be of a reduced size, certainly sufficient to protectively display at least two pictures of the 3".times.5" type size. The first section 6 is joined to the second section 8 along the common edge 50 and this edge is defined by the various sheets making up both the first and second sections.

The second section 8 is preferably transparent, having an interior sheet 28 and a back sheet 30 of approximately equal size, heat sealed together along the common edge 50, along the bottom edge 29 and the side edge 31. This section is of approximately the same size as the first section minus the retaining portion 50 and as such, is capable of receiving larger class or team photos. The sheets 28 and 29 are separable along the top edge 33 to allow insertion of these photos, generally indicated in broken lines as 26. In addition to the photo generally indicated as 26, an insert 27 is provided within the second section 8 and is visible to the exterior of the insert when the insert is in the folded orientation generally shown in 2. Insert 27 is preferably of a white sheet material having various indicia thereon such as the school year, homeroom teacher, achievements throughout the year and noteworthy events. This insert 27 can be removed from the insert and quickly completed by the parent or student and as such, provides a record of information which is important but not represented by the photos or report cards. In addition, this insert 27 may have provision for a small picture of the student and as such, provides a summary for the contents of the insert when used to display and retain information collected through the school year.

As can be appreciated, the common edge 50, which adjacent the lower edge and to the first section side of the common edge 50, is of a triple thickness of sheet material made up of the transparent sheet 22, the non-transparent sheet 18 and the non-transparent backing sheet 16, and to the opposite side of the common edge is of a double thickness made up of sheet materials 28 and 30. In contrast, above the pocket 40, the common edge is only of a double thickness of sheet material, whereas above pocket 38 the edge is of a single thickness on the first section side and a double thickness on the second section side. This additional thickness of material adjacent the lower edge of the insert results in a common edge which is quite stiff and effectively biases the insert to the folded orientation shown in FIG. 2.

In reviewing the structure of FIG. 6, it can be seen that a number of inserts 4 are retained within the binder 2 and all inserts are in the folded orientation. The common edge 50 is located at the exterior of the binder 2 and serves as a stiffener to the insert to ensure the contents of the insert are not subject to damage or folding. For example, any forces exerted on the common edge 50 of the insert are distributed along the edge and do not result in localized creasing or folding. Furthermore, this edge serves to assure that the first and second sections maintain alignment and as such, maintain the orientation which will maintain the contents of the insert either in the various pockets or in the display sections.

The system presently disclosed allows for the recording of information on the insert 27 in a summary type form visible through the second section 8 when placed in the folded orientation of the insert 4. Preferably this insert includes a region for receiving a photograph representative of the student at this point in time. Other information such as the grade, the age, school name, homeroom teacher and achievements or noteworthy events are afforded space for recording. In this way, insert 27 may be removed, quickly completed and returned to second section 8 to act as a summary of the school year and a summary of the contents of the insert. Additional information regarding the year can be found when the insert is placed in the extended orientation where additional photos can be provided, either in pocket 40 and/or the interior of the second section. As such, these photos will be visible when the insert in the extended orientation.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.