DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, a transparent document pouch 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention is shown hanging about a neck 12 of a traveler 14. The transparent document pouch 10 has a first pocket 15, a second pocket 16, an aperture 17, a lanyard 18 and is made from a transparent sheet 20 of material, such as vinyl or plastic. While vinyl and plastic are herein specified, any material that is transparent and capable of bearing the weight of the documents of traveler 14, is suitable.

[0010] One suitable material for use when a photograph is to be kept in the document pouch is polypropylene. Polypropylene is well-known for use in archival storage of photographs. Other plastics such as vinyl may cause documents to turn yellow or may stick to the documents if the documents are left in the document pouch 10 for a long time.

[0011] Although the transparent document pouch 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is constructed from a single sheet of transparent material, any number of sheets can be used. The use of more than one sheet causes the transparent document pouch 10 to have many layers, which increases the strength or carrying capacity of the transparent document pouch 10. It should be noted that in an embodiment having many layers, not all layers would need to be transparent.

[0012] The transparent sheet 20 is folded along a crease 22 and overlaid upon itself to form a front face 24 and a back face 26. Thus folded, the document pouch 10 has an upper end 28, a creased lower end 30 defined by the crease 22, a first side 32, a second side 33, the front face 24 and the back face 26. A first continuous heat seal 36 extends from near the upper end 28 to the creased lower end 30 of the transparent document pouch 10. The first continuous heat seal 36 joins the front face 24 to the back face 26 near the first side 32 of the transparent document pouch 10.

[0013] A second continuous heat seal 38 extending from near the upper end 28 to the creased lower end 30 of the transparent document pouch 10 joins the front face 24 to the back face 26 near the second side 33 of the transparent document pouch 10. The first continuous heat seal 36 and the second continuous heat seal 38 may, if desirable, extend to the upper end 28.

[0014] The crease 22 is used to support the weight of any travel documents. However, when more than one sheet of transparent material is utilized to construct a transparent document pouch, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheets need not be folded at all. Instead, a top sheet may be positioned on top of a bottom sheet with the upper surface of the top sheet defining a front face and the lower surface of the bottom sheet defining a back face. The sheets are heat sealed along the sides and the lower end, thus joining the front face to the back face.

[0015] Referring again to FIG. 1, a continuous cross seal 44 extends between the first continuous heat seal 36 and the second continuous heat seal 38 joining the front face 24 to the back face 26 so as to define the first pocket 15 so that the first pocket 15 is sized to receive an article of identification 48 between the front face 24 and the back face 26 of the transparent document pouch 10. Articles of identification, such as a driver's license, are typically sized to fit into a man's wallet and are typically on the order of two inches wide by three inches long and are less than one-tenth of one inch thick.

[0016] The transparent sheet 20 may be of any thickness so long as the front face 24 can be joined to the back face 26. While the front face 24 and the back face 26 are herein joined by continuous heat seals 36 and 38, any type of seal joining the front face 24 to the back face 26, such as spot sealing, dashed sealing or embossed sealing would be within the scope of this invention. Furthermore, heat sealing need not be used at all. Alternative means for joining the front face 24 to the back face 26 such as sewing, adhesives, clips, studs, magnets or any other equivalent methods would be within the scope of this invention. Also, should it be determined to be beneficial, the upper end 28 of the transparent document pouch 10 may be sealed in favor of some other opening without departing from the inventive concept.

[0017] The first pocket 15 is formed near the upper end 28 of the transparent sheet 20 and has an open upper end 50 through which the article of identification 48 is inserted between the front face 24 and the back face 26, thereby disposing the article of identification 48 into the first pocket 15. The open upper end 50 is defined by the unsealed portions of the front face 24 and the back face 26 at the upper end 28 of the transparent document pouch 10. The first pocket 15 has a lower end defined by the continuous cross seal 44, a first side 54 defined by the first continuous heat seal 36 and a second side 56 defined by the second continuous heat seal 38.

[0018] Also defined by the continuous cross seal 44 is an upper end 58 of the second pocket 16. While the upper end 58 of the second pocket 16 is defined by the continuous cross seal 44, the upper end 58 of the second pocket 16 could be defined by another seal entirely or have no seal at all, thereby being open.

[0019] The second pocket 16 is formed so as to be sized to receive a longer item such as a ticket, boarding pass, itinerary, or some other item too large to fit in the first pocket 15. In addition to having an upper end 58, the second pocket 16 also has a lower end 62, a first side 64 and a second side 66. The lower end 62 of the second pocket 16 is defined by the creased lower end 30 of the transparent document pouch 10. The first side 64 of the second pocket 16 is defined by the first continuous heat seal 36 of the transparent document pouch 10. The second side 66 of the second pocket 16 is defined by the second continuous heat seal 38 of the transparent document pouch 10.

[0020] While the preferred embodiment specifies two pockets, additional pockets may be found to be desirable. For instance, a third pocket for holding a passport would assist international travelers. Such an arrangement for a third pocket is discussed in greater detail below in relation to FIG. 3. Additional pockets could hold tickets and other travel papers for connecting flights, long trips involving multiple forms of transportation and other useful purposes.

[0021] Additional pockets, along with the openings to the pockets, could be disposed in the front face 24 or the back face 26. When multiple sheets of transparent sheet 20 are utilized, for instance three sheets, the transparent document pouch 10 could have pockets on both the front and the back of the transparent document pouch 10. Multiple sheets would also permit the formation of a transparent document pouch 10 with a transparent front face 24 and an opaque back face 26 or vice versa.

[0022] Furthermore, the pockets need not be configured as disclosed for the preferred embodiment. For instance, the second pocket 16 might be disposed closer to the top of the transparent document pouch 10, the second pocket 16 might be on one side with a plurality of smaller pockets on the other, the second pocket 16 might be configured to extend laterally, rather than vertically and so forth. Any configuration or layout of pockets is within the scope of the invention so long as the transparent document pouch 10 minimizes inconvenience for the traveler 14 by visibly storing travel documents in an easily accessible and secure location.

[0023] Disposed in the front face 24 of the transparent document pouch 10 in the area defined by the second pocket 16 is a slit 68. A boarding pass 70 is shown disposed through the slit 68 so that the boarding pass 70 is disposed between the front face 24 and the back face 26 of the transparent document pouch 10 in the area defined by the second pocket 16.

[0024] While the preferred embodiment specifies an open upper end 50 for the first pocket 15 and a slit 68 for the second pocket 16, so that travel papers may be disposed between the front face 24 and the back face 26 thus being contained by the transparent document pouch 10, any means may be used for an entry into a pocket. Such means may include slits, holes, slots, or overlapping portions of transparent sheet 20. The opening may be permanently open or securably closable using a snap, a non-metallic zipper, a continuous rail and clasp, a hook and loop surface, a mild adhesive, a flap, or any other means to temporarily secure an opening.

[0025] Near the upper end 28 of the transparent document pouch 10 is the aperture 17 through which the lanyard 18 is threaded. While the aperture 17 specified herein is a hole disposed through the front face 24 and the back face 26, the aperture 17 could be a slit, a fold of transparent sheet, a hole with a ring disposed thereabout, or like device. In fact, the aperture 17 could be eliminated altogether, so long as some other means for removably connecting the transparent document pouch 10 to the traveler 14 were employed in place of the aperture 17.

[0026] The lanyard 18 is disposed about the neck 12 of the traveler 14 so as to support the weight of both the transparent document pouch 10 and the contents of the transparent document pouch 10, and also to facilitate the flipping over of the transparent document pouch 10 to permit the personal information contained on the article of identification 48 and other travel documents to be obstructed from view when not presenting them to security or to airline personnel. The lanyard 18 could be a wire, string, shoe string, strap, rope, band or any other means by which the transparent document pouch 10 could be hung about the neck 12 of the traveler 14.

[0027] The lanyard 18 need not be threaded through the aperture 17, but might substitute some means for attaching the lanyard 18 to the transparent document pouch 10. Such means would include a hook, clasp, snap or any other suitable means for attaching a lanyard 18 to the transparent document pouch 10, so long as the attachment of the lanyard 18 to the transparent document pouch 10 allows the transparent document pouch 10 to be flipped to enable the viewing of both faces 24 and 26 of the transparent document pouch 10.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows the document pouch 10 flipped so that the back face 26 is facing outwardly. Having the document pouch 10 flippable, or rotatable, on the lanyard 18, enables the traveler 12 to selectively conceal or reveal information on fronts of the article of identification and the travel documents. If desirable, the back face 26 may be constructed of an opaque or translucent material to prevent a passerby from reading information on backs of the article of identification and the travel documents.

[0029] Other means to securely attach the transparent document pouch 10 to the traveler 14 could be utilized such as a non-metallic clasp or snap, a permanently attached band with a clip or a two-ended band, each end having a clip disposed thereon so long as said means permits the traveler 14 to attach the transparent document pouch 10 to the traveler 14 in a secure manner.

[0030] It should be noted that the use of non-metallic materials is preferred. Non-metallic materials do not trigger metal detectors, so the use of non-metallic materials will assist travel through metal detectors while permitting full visibility of various credentials and papers.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a document pouch 80 suspended from the neck 12 of a traveler 14. The pouch 80 has a first pocket 82 and a relatively larger second pocket 84. The first pocket 82 is sized two to three inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) long and three to four inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm) wide. The second pocket 84 is sized four to five inches (10.2 to 12.7 cm) wide and nine to ten inches (22.9 to 25.4 cm) long.

[0032] The first pocket 82 is formed by attaching a first sheet of material 86 to a second sheet of material 88. The second pocket 84 is formed by attaching a third sheet of material 90 to the second sheet of material 88. The first sheet of material 86 has a top 92, a bottom 94 and two sides 96. The second sheet of material 88 has a top 98, a bottom 100 and two sides 102. The third sheet of material has a top 104, a bottom 106, and two sides 108. The third sheet of material 90 is attached to the second sheet of material 88 by a substantially U-shaped heat seal 110 that leaves the second pocket 84 with an open top 112. The open top 112 permits using the second pocket 84 for storing documents that are longer than the third sheet of material 90. The U-shaped heat seal 110 supports the travel documents and define sidewalls of the second pocket 84.

[0033] The first sheet of material 86 is attached to the second sheet of material 88 by a heat seal 114 having four substantially vertical elements 116, 118, 120 and 122 and one horizontal element 124. The horizontal element 124 supports the article of identification and the inner vertical elements 118 and 120 define sidewalls of a receiving space for receiving the article of identification. The first pocket 82 has an open top 126. The open top 126 allows the traveler 12 to use an article of identification that is longer than first sheet of material 86.

[0034] An aperture 128 is disposed in the document pouch 80 for attachment of the document pouch 80 to a sliding clasp clip 130. The sliding clasp clip 130 is attached to a lanyard 132 which is suspended from the neck 12 of the traveler 14.

[0035] FIG. 4 shows a document pouch 130 that has three pockets 132, 134 and 136. The document pouch 130 is nearly identical to the document pouch 80 except for the presence of the third pocket 136. The third pocket 136 is shown holding a typical passport. The third pocket 136 has dimensions of about 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) in width and 4.0 inches (10.2 cm) in length.

[0036] Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the various components, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.