CA2225075A1

CA2225075A1 - A clasp-stereoviewer

Info

Publication number: CA2225075A1
Application number: CA002225075A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Perry E. Borchers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-03-06
Filing date: 1998-03-06
Publication date: 1999-09-06

Abstract

The CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is designed for integral attachment to books having major illustrations consisting of three-dimensional stereoprints. Through a series of planes with six crease-hinges, it can be repeatedly set up in a standard position over a series of stereoprint illustrations, can be swung clear to turn pages, and can be collapsed to store as a CLASP in a NICHE in the front cover of the book. Combined with calculated geometry of stereophotography on site, and with calculated enlargement and dimensioning of the stereoprints, this standard position of viewing can reproduce visual reality - human visual perceptions in the three dimensions of actual space - with unmatched accuracy.

Description

A CLASP-STEREOVIEWER Page 1. of 9.
Inventor: Perry E. Borchers 360 South Essex Lane, Tucson, Arizona, USA 85711 Reference: U.S. Patent Application 08/812,965, March 5, 1997 by Perry E. Borchers.
SUMMARY:
The CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is permanently attached to its book;
it unfolds to take standard position over stereoprints which have standard position on right-hand pages of the book; and it folds as a clasp into a NICHE in the front cover of the book for ordinary handling and storage on bookshelves. Front and rear covers, spine, NICHE, and CLASP-STEREOVIEWER are connected and function as one complete unit.
BACKGROUND:
The stereoscopes and stereoviewers used since World War II
in the field and in the laboratories of photointerpretation and photogrammetry for remote sensing have been instruments typically set up independently for three-dimensional viewing and study of similarly independent photographic stereopairs or stereo-drawings. The result is unequalled clarity in the recognition of qualities and the measurement of dimensions in the 'optical model' that is formed in the eyes and the brain.
The same laboratory quality of viewing and understanding visual subject matter is highly desirable in book publication, where, however, it is considered a distinct drawback for book and stereoviewer to be two separate units, with one or the other - particularly the stereoviewer - subject to inadvertent misplacement or casual theft.

Borchers - CLASP-STEREOVIEWER - Page 2. of 9.
This CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is therefore an answer to a major impediment preventing the publication of books containing stereoprint illustration of truly three-dimensional subjects.
DRAWINGS:
Plate 1. shows how the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER can be punch-cut and creased from a single 14" wide strip of 30 mil thickness of a material such as composite polyethylene and carbon.
Plate 2. shows how the inner and outer surfaces of the BOOK
COVERS and SPINE can be punch-cut and creased from a similar single 14" wide strip of similar thickness and material, with minor infill to complete the rear cover and to form the NICHE
in the front cover. The CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is shown in retracted position as for turning of pages.
Plate 3, shows the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in viewing position over a stereoprint at about midpoint in the book.
Plate 4. shows the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in idling position over the NICHE in the front cover of the book.
Plate 5. shows the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in clasp position within the NICHE in the front cover for shelving the book.
Plate 6. shows the book in face-down position with the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER extended as for viewing a stereoprint projection of proper location, area, and pixel size, on a nearly vertical computer or television screen.
MANUFACTURE:
The system of manufacture, as illustrated in Plates 1. & 2., Borchers - CLASP-STEREOVIEWER - Page 3. of 9.
is a build-up of forms through adhesion of multiple layers of plastic sheets of a common thickness; but this is not intended to exclude from this SPECIFICATION the use of other molding processes by which the same general forms and uses of the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER and NICHE can be achieved.
In Plate 1. note:
Active hinges I - VI, of which hinges I, II, & IV are creased from below and fold down, and hinges III, V, & VI are creased from above and fold up. Hinges V & VI are opposed to each other, and can either be folded completely under for housing the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in its NICHE, or can be half-opened so planes F & G are extended in parallel to be grasped by the slot in lens-plane E to give sturdy support during all movement of the stereoviewer.
Visible planes B - G of hinges and stereoviewer, reinforced by permanent folds 1' - 7', and adhering under them the concealed planes b',b", c', c", d', d',& e. These concealed planes are trimmed so they create additional width of flexure for hinges I, II, III, & IV.
Plane A extends full length into the rear cover of the book, and adheres on both faces to the structure of the rear cover.
Planes b' - e, on the sides folded inwards, will also be be coated with commercially available adhesive, of acrylic or rubber. Cutting through the doubled planes are two lens holes, one slot, and one nose hole.
Dimensions in the drawings are based on the use of plexiglas lenses, commercially molded, of approximately 5" focal length and 2x magnification.

Borchers - CLASP-STEREOVIEWER - Page 4. of 9.
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR INTENDED USE:
(1). The CLASP-STEREOVIEWER must be strongly and permanently attached to its book. In this design, the bottom end of the the apparatus is gripped between the structural layers of the rear cover; and it is hinged from the bottom edge of that cover.
This can be seen in Plate 2.

(2). When unfolded and set up, the stereoviewer must maintain a standard position over stereoprints which themselves occupy a standard position near the bottom of the righthand page at the end of each two-page-spread of text and illustrations.
In this design, it is positioned by its parallel crease-hinges and is stabilized by the double support which is first unfolded perpendicular to the hinges and is then gripped by the slot in the lens-plane. This support, resting on the narrow separation between the two images of a stereoprint, also limits each eye to a single image and results in a clear, stereoscopic 'optical model' without ghost images at the sides.
The position of the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in active stereoviewing is seen in Plate 3, which shows a typical way of joining the end sheet and front cover and a typical way of holding the book.
The left thumb flattens the page and and the hinge of the stereoviewer, while the left hand - after the first half of the book - tilts that first half so that successive pages and stereoprints remain centered under the stereoviewer.

(3). When pages need to be turned, the stereoviewer must be swung out of the way and then be swung back to standard position without loss of form or position. In this design, that is done with the hinge at the bottom of the rear cover. See Plate 2.

(4). There is an idling position of the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER, Borchers - CLASP-STEREOVIEWER - Page 5. of 9.
which can be seen in Plate 4. This particular position on desk or counter, in library or bookstore, can advertise the combined uniqueness of the three-dimensionally illustrated book and the stereoviewer in the most provocative way. An effective sales display could exhibit one book open, with the stereoviewer centered over a stereoprint ready for stereoscopic viewing, and one book closed, with the stereoviewer folded into the NICHE in the front cover.

(5). When the book is to be shelved, the stereoviewer must be housed in the NICHE in the front cover of the book, everywhere at least 30 mils deeper than the depth of the stereoviewer folded and inserted in it, with no projections to damage the stereo-viewer or to mar other books during ordinary storage or withdrawal of the book from between others on shelves in libraries or bookstores.
In the design, this is accomplished by disengaging the two planes of the perpendicular support from the slot in the lens-plane, by folding these under, closing the book, inserting the outer edge of the lens-plane into the slot at the top of the NICHE in the front cover, and - with pressure on hinge II
at the bottom edge of the front cover - causing the folded stereoviewer to override the shoulderlike projections in the NICHE and then relax back into their grip. This clasp position of book and stereoviewer is shown in Plate 5.
To again use the book, the stereoviewer is withdrawn from the NICHE by compressing hinge II. at the bottom of the front cover while using the nose-hole to lift the lens-plane free of the shoulders of the NICHE. The folded stereoviewer is then withdrawn, the perpendicular supports are unfolded, the hinge of the lens-plane is compressed so the slot in the lens-plane overrides the lugs at the top of the perpendicular supports;, Borchers - CLASP-STEREOVIEWER - Page 6. of 9.
and hinge IV. is then relaxed so the slot grips and holds these lugs, and the stereoviewer is swung into viewing position.
FUNDAMENTALS OF DESIGN AND OPERATION:
The operations described above are more self-evident than this detailed description suggests. The form of the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER results from the combination of two greatly different functions in this instrument and from recognizing two very different characteristics in the material used.
The thin plastic sheets are strong and extremely resistant to tearing. They are flexible and recover shape after bending.
To hold form during use, the material is stiffened by folding it along its edges, by adhesion of two layers of material, and by symmetry in this reinforcement. This is what characterizes the construction of the stereoviewer - and the planes between the crease-hinges - which allows the stereoviewer to return again and again to proper alignment and orientation over the successive stereoprints In a single thickness, the material tends to bend rather than to fold sharply; and the minor arcs at the crease-hinges between the stiffened planes gives one the play necessary to override the shoulders of the NICHE, when inserting or removing the folded stereoviewer, and to override the lugs of the perpendicular supports, when catching or releasing them from the slot in the lens-plane.
Plate 4. shows how the major hinges tend to straighten when left untended in idling position - or when one hands both book and stereoviewer to another person to look at a particular stereoprint.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. I claim the invention of a CLASP-STEREOVIEWER permanently attached to books having major stereoprint illustrations of a standard width and position at the bottoms of righthand pages of two-page-spreads of text and illustration. The parts of this invention include:
(a). The stereoviewer - cut and creased and folded from a single strong, flexible sheet of plastic, or of composite and plastic, of approx. 0.030" thickness - which is made rigid by the folding, doubling, and adhesion of its major planes D and E, and by the gripping, in the slot of lens-plane E, of the two planes F and G of the support perpendicular to D and E. The viewer is made collapsible to a single plane by freeing planes F and G from the slot and folding them under plane D while simultaneously unfolding lens-plane E
in extension of plane D. These separate planes, folds, and crease-hinges are identified on Plate 1.
(b). The permanent connection of the stereoviewer to the book - by continatiom of the same sheet of material, detailed on Plate 1, through three crease-hinges and two doubled, rigid planes B and C to single plane A, adhering on both sides to the structural planes of the rear cover of the book. These crease-hinges and planes are identified on Plate 1, and are shown in various positions of use on Plates 2, 3, 4, & 5.
(c). The construction of a protective NICHE in the front cover of the book to receive the collapsed stereoviewer as a clasp holding the book closed. Plate 4 shows the NICHE open;
Plate 5 shows the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER housed in it. Plate 2 shows one method of creating the NICHE, cut through three layers of material sandwiched within another continuous sheet Page 8.
of the same material as that of the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER, 0,030"
in thickness. This forms both the inner and the outer surfaces of the rear cover of the book, wrapping around and gripping plane A, then continues across the spine, and forms the outer surface and the inner surface of the front cover. An outline cut through the outer surface of the front cover combines with outlines in the three inner layers to create the NICHE.

2. I further claim an adaptation of this CLASP-STEREOVIEWER
to viewing stereoprint illustrations transmitted on computer and television screens, provided that location on the screen, width, separation, and pixels at 250 or more per lineal inch match standards required for book publication of stereoprints.
This adaptation is shown in Plate 6. The book in which the CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is housed is turned face-down on the top surface enclosing the computer or television screen. There it serves as a counterweight to the stereoviewer projecting from the rear cover. Planes B and C and the three crease-hinges serve to span the frame surrounding the screen to bring the stereoviewer base in contact with it. The lens-plane of the viewer is then parallel to the vertical or near-vertical screen; and the position of the human observer shields the screen from extraneous reflections. For permanent adaptation to such screens, the nose hole is moved to the opposite edges of planes E,F,&.G.

3. I further claim that - sacrificing the function of serving as a book-clasp - the stereoviewer can be efficiently and safely stored, when not in use, in a NICHE in the rear cover of the book. This NICHE will be of the same dimensions as before, except for now lengthening it to also accommodate plane B; and the stereoviewer will function as before, except that - with the book lying closed on desk or shelf - the stereoviewer is no longer exposed to view.

Page 9.

4. I further claim that - cutting the stereoviewer from its permanent connection with the book along crease-hinge III -it becomes an efficient form of pocket stereoscope for study of individual stereopair transparencies or prints, and is neither as heavy and bulky as the U.S.Army pocket stereoscopes or those derived from them, nor as inclined to deform, as plastic stereoviewers of single thickness and unsymmetrical construction will do. This can then be housed in a paper sleeve within the cover of a paperback book, or within the pocket of a coat jacket.

ABSTRACT:

The CLASP-STEREOVIEWER is designed for integral attachment to books having major illustrations consisting of three-dimensional stereoprints. Through a series of planes with six crease-hinges, it can be repeatedly set up in a standard position over a series of stereoprint illustrations, can be swung clear to turn pages, and can be collapsed to store as a CLASP in a NICHE in the front cover of the book.
Combined with calculated geometry of stereophotography on site, and with calculated enlargement and dimensioning of the stereoprints, this standard position of viewing can reproduce visual reality - human visual perceptions in the three dimensions of actual space - with unmatched accuracy.

NOTE:
In January 1997, I made a search at the Boston Public Library Patent and Trademark Depository Library and found no references related to this CLASP-STEREOVIEWER in classification 359/466.