GB2090790A - Book and frame package - Google Patents

Abstract

A package comprises a book containing a plurality of loose leaves, resilient clamping means for clamping the loose leaves in the book, a plurality of frames for the loose leaves, each frame including a transparent portion and being arranged to receive a selected leaf for display through the transparent portion, and a common means for containing the book and the frames. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Combination book and frame package This invention relates to a combination package comprising a loose leaf book and a plurality of frames, and to a book forming part of the package.

For a great many years books have been bound in a substantially permanent condition so that any part of the book, if removed, will normally destroy or seriously damage the book. Loose leaf books which commonly have leaves with holes for the reception of holding rings are ungainly and easily torn. These are problems particularly with books containing pictures. Pictures are made to be seen but when bound in a book are virtually buried in a book case.

It is not practical to hang books on the wall nor is it desirable to cut them apart for that purpose, and even when cut apart they still require a practical method of protecting and hanging them.

The present invention provides an all-inclusive package by which pictures for instance may be transported or stored as desired in the nature of a book, and it also provides that the pictures may be extracted easily and selectively without damage to themselves or the book, together with means for framing each picture and means for hanging such frames for display.

According to the present invention there is provided a package comprising a book containing a plurality of loose leaves, resilient clamping means for clamping the loose leaves in the book, a plurality of frames for the loose leaves, each frame including a transparent portion and being arranged to receive a selected leaf for display through the transparent portion, and a common means for containing the book and the frames.

The invention also includes a book for forming part of the above package comprising a plurality of sheets, a covering sheet encasing the plurality of sheets, a pair of reinforcing members spaced adjacent the center of the covering sheet, a slidable channel shaped clamping strip, and a pair of filler strips extending the length of the space between the reinforcing members, the filler strips being spaced both from each other and from the adjacent edges of the reinforcing members, the filler strips forming a reception element for the clamping strip, and the spaces between the filler strip and adjacent edges of the reinforcing members forming longitudinal indentations, the slidable channel clamping strip having a longitudinal edge slightly bent inwardly to grip the spine and the pages in the area of the indentations.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the invention; Figure 2 is a detailed view partly in section showing a portion of the rear part of the box or book jacket shown in Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the tacks in exposed condition; Figure 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the complete book consisting of cover, binder and individual pages; Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of the spine of the book; Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating the book cover in flat condition; Figure 8 is a rear view of one of the picture frames; Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of a plastic picture frame;; Figure 10is a perspective view illustrating an alternative picture frame hanger; Figure Ii is a perspective view illustrating a way of mounting these hangers for integration into the complete package; and Figure 12 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 12, Fig. 10.

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally an open-sided box, book jacket, or the like. It has a longitudinal generally central partition 12 dividing the same into two compartments 14 and 16, Compartment 16 contains frames for holding pictures individually for hanging on the wall or the like, these frames being described in more detail hereinafter; and compartment 14 holds the book 18 which contains removable pictures. At the bottom of compartment 16 there is inserted a strip of wood or similar material 20, also shown in Fig. 4, because this compartment must be shorter or shallower than the compartment 14 since the book itself has an overall width greater than that of the individual frames. The frames fit into compartment 1 6 resting on the block 20 which makes the edges of the frames, visible in Fig. 1, level with the back or spine of the book.Looking at Fig. 1, the spine of the book is exposed but the book and frames fit neatly and evenly in the box or book jacket 10.

Fig. 7 shows the book cover which comprises a foldable sheet 22 of suitable material which extends from edge 24 to edge 26 thereof. Applied in spaced relation on and to either side of the central position of sheet 22 are identical strengthening cardboards 28 and 30. These are positioned as shown in Fig. 7 but they are connected by sheet 22. Two narrow filler strips of strengthening material which are indicated as 32 and 34 are applied to sheet 22 at its under side or outside in parallelism with cards 28 and 30 and they are spaced from each other and from the said cards leaving spaces 36 and 38 adjacent to the cards 28 and 30, and a central space 40 between the strips 32 and 34. An ornamental cover paper or the like 41 may be adhered to the sheet 22 and strips 32, 34.

When the two leaves of the book cover are folded over upon each other with multiple pages or pictures 42 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, therebetween, the ends thereof as at 44 are located in general abutting relation with respect to the portion 40, and the two filler strips 32 and 34 overlie these edge portions of the pages or pictures 42 leaving the areas 36, 38 free.

There is provided a channel shaped clamp member generally indicated at 46 and this is a slidable device with inturned free edges 48, 50 along the open edge of the channel. These are dimensioned to closely engage the portions 36 and 38 of the cover in such a way as to closely clamp the pages or pictures etc. 42, and they indent the areas 36, 38 which are defined by the filler strips 32, 34 and the adjacent edges of the reinforcing cards or sheets 28 and 30. It is only necessary to slide the channel shaped member 46 into place to grip all the pages inside the book cover; or conversely, to remove the channel strip 46 by sliding it off, whereupon any of the pictures or pages which, of course, are otherwise completely free may be selected for application to the frames which are shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9 there is shown a frame several of which are included in the package as shown in compartment 16 of Fig. 1. These frames each comprise a single piece of clear plastic which is folded as at 54 forming the two leaves 56 and 58, and there may be a stiffening card 60 contained in the pocket formed thereby. One edge as at 62 is indented as at 64 to provide clearance for the head of a thumbstack as will be hereafter explained, and the other edge as at 66 is folded over to form the flap 68. The indentation 70 is for the purpose of hanging the frame with the picture in it, Fig. 8 showing the rear aspect of the frame, the front portion of which is simply plain.

To insert a picture to be displayed in this frame, the selected picture is placed face down on a flat surface and the frame card 60 is placed on top aligning the bottom and the sides and folding over a flap at 71. Then the frame is opened, see Fig. 9, and the picture and card are collectively slipped under the flap 68, with the edge 62 leading.

The framed picture may now be hung on the head of a thumbtack protruding from a wall or the like as will be clear to those skilled in the art, the head of the tack being received in the clearance space 64 and the notch 7U.

The thumb tacks are provided with this package and they are shown at 72, see Fig.

3. They penetrate the wooden strip 20 as shown in Fig. 4 and are thus held in position at the outside of the rear edge of the book jacket 10.

Since it is often considered undesirable to make holes in a wall (such as with plaster) or is sometimes impractical (such as with steel office partitions), an alternate method of hanging is provided. Individual stick-on tapes appropriately called "tape-tacks" adhere to the wall or other display mount by virtue of a permanent adhesive tape which supports a hook which in turn performs the same function as the head of a thumbtack.

Fig. 10 illustrates the tape-tack assembly.

Each individual tape is indicated at 78, and comprises a preferably fabric sheet coated with a permanent adhesive. A narrow slot 80 is cut through the tape near the top end and a preformed strip 82, preferably metal, is passed through said slot in such a way that the flat length of the strip interfaces with the adhesive on the back of the fabric sheet while a preformed hook 84 stands away from the fabric on the other non-adhesive side and extends upwardly approximately to the top of the sheet. The lower end of the fabric sheet is then doubled back on itself, adhesive to adhesive, to form a tab 86. This tab is of such a length that it encloses the bottom of the metal strip at 88 for reasons to be explained.

Each tape when applied to a wall or other surface where it is desired to hang a frame now serves the same purpose as a thumbtack but does not penetrate the wall. As with the thumbtack, the hook 84 engages in the slot 70 (Fig. 9) in the back of the frame.

Since the adhesive has considerable tenacity it cannot be put in direct contact with the paper cover of the box. A plastic sheet 90, Fig. 11 is therefore provided and all the tapes are adhered to it. their hook ends being made flush with one edge 91. The sheet must be strong enough not to tear when the tape-tacks are being removed.

To remove any one of the tape-tacks from base 90 it is only necessary to pull on convenient tab 86, which is a non-adhesive, and peel the tape off. If the end 88 of the metal strip 82, Fig. 10, were not caught in the tab 86, the adhesive coated fabric tape would be apt to peel away from the metal strip 82 at the same time that it peeled off the plastic base and the whole tack-tape assembly would be rendered useless.

Mounting sheet 90, Fig. 11, is also perforated with holes 92 which correspond in number and location with thumbtacks 72 which are used to retain the tack-tape assembly on box 10. In turn a strip of paper or the like 74 may be used to cover the collective assembly of thumbtacks and tack-tapes. Provided with slots corresponding to the number and location of tacks, the cover 74 may be inserted between box 10 and the tape-tack mount and then be folded back on top of itself around the rear edge 77 of the book jacket to the open end thereof where it is preferably provided with a flap 78 bending around the edge of the pocket 18 as shown in Fig. 1. Paper 74 may be used for instructions, etc.

The pictures not being used are replaced in the book cover 28 of Fig. 5 and reclamped with channel clamp 46 which does not penetrate or deface the pages in any way.

The different pages held in the book are all the same size, separate and numbered. Any one or more can be removed or replaced without harming the others. These sheets slide easily into the simple frames which are a basic part of the package which is brought together by the structure of the box or jacket 10 which protects the book and provides a pocket for the frames and a storage location for their hanging devices.

This invention is useful not only in the world of art books where a book of types, or of artists, can be formulated, or even a book of many pictures of a single artist, but it is also useful for childrens books, poetry, philosophical works, instruction books and manuals, and any other type of publication where it would be advantageous to excerpt, exhibit, exchange and replace various parts of the work without difficulty or damage. The pages, pictures, charts in the book may be selected and changed at any time it is desired to do so. The contents of the book are no longer rigidly confined within the book covers but are now avaliable with ease and no damage for display by means readily at hand by virtue of the design of the package as a whole.

Claims (11)

1. A package comprising a book containing a plurality of loose leaves, resilient clamping means for clamping the loose leaves in the book, a plurality of frames for the loose leaves, each frame including a transparent portion and being arranged to receive a selected leaf for display through the transparent portion, and a common means for containing the book and the frames.

2. A package according to claim 1 further including means for hanging the frames.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the common means for containing the book and the frames comprises a book jacket.

4. A package according to claim 3 wherein the book jacket is an open-sided box including a partition extending from end to end thereof, and dividing the box into two pockets, the book being located in one pocket and the frames in the other pocket.

5. A package according to claim 4 including means for securing the hanging means with respect to the box.

6. A package according to claim 3 wherein the hanging means is selected from tacks removably secured to the box, and selfadhesive tapes each with a hook thereon adhesively held to the box.

7. A package according to claim 5 including a foldable element for concealing the frame hanging means by overlying the same, the foldable element extending to the open edge of the book jacket and having a flap extending into the book jacket.

8. A package according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each frame includes a clear plastic sheet folded to form a pocket, a lip on one edge thereof, the opposite edge extending under and being held by said lip, and a card in said frame.

9. A package according to claim 4 including a filler at the bottom of the pocket containing the frames, the book being wider than the frames.

10. A package comprising a box closed except for an open edge, a partition in the box extending parallel to the sides thereof and dividing the box into two compartments, a book in one compartment and a set of light clear plastics picture frames in the other compartment, the book including, a book cover, a plurality of sheets of similar size with indicia thereon received within the cover, and a slidable channel shaped clamp for the spine of the book, the sheets extending into the spine and the clamp but being otherwise free of the clamp and the clamp having no damaging effect on the sheets when the same are clamped, the sheets being slightly larger than the frames but being countable therein, the book cover comprising a sheet, a pair of reinforcing members on the sheet and being spaced at the center of the sheet, a pair of filler strips extending the length of the space between the reinforcing members, the filler strips being spaced both from each other and from the adjacent edges of the reinforcing members, the filler strips forming a reception element for the clamping strip, and the spaces between the filler strips and adjacent edges of the reinforcing members forming longitudinal indentations, the slidable channel clamping strip having a longitudinal edge slightly bent inwardly to grip the spine and the sheets in the area of the indentations.

11. A book comprising a plurality of sheets, a covering sheet encasing the plurality of sheets, a pair of reinforcing members spaced adjacent the center of the covering sheet, a slidable channel shaped clamping strip, and a pair of filler strips extending the length of the space between the reinforcing members, the filler strips being spaced both from each other and from the adjacent edges of the reinforcing members, the filler strips forming a reception element for the clamping strip and the spaces between the filler strips and adjacent edges of the reinforcing members forming longitudinal indentations, the slidable channel clamping strip having a longitudinal edge slightly bent inwardly to grip the spine and the pages in the area of the indentations.

1 2. A package according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.