GB2202575A - A holder for sheets of material - Google Patents

Abstract

A holder for one or more sheets (2) of material, for example paper has a plurality of balls received between a back plate (3) and a front wall (4). The front wall (4) has an inwardly inclined portion (8) defining with the back plate (3) an elongate slot (9). A sheet (2) can be retained without marking by pushing it upwardly into the slot (9) to dislodge and rotate the balls (7) which fall back onto the sheet (2) to grip it against the back plate (3). <IMAGE>

Description

A HOLDER FOR SHEETS OF MATERIAL The present invention relates to a holder for sheets of material.

If sheets of paper, for example, are required to be displayed they can be pinned or adhered to a vertical surface, but this marks the paper. spring action clips are provided on clip boards and notice boards, but when these are opened to allow the insertion of a subsequent sheet of paper, previously retained sheets may be released.

It is an object of this invention to provide a holder which reduces these problems with known devices.

According to the present invention there is provided a holder for sheets of material comprising two spaced elongate wall members arranged to define an elongate slot, and one or more objects which each have a substantially circular periphery received between said wall members, the width of the slot substantially transverse to its longitudinal extent being less than any dimension of the or each object.

Preferably, said wall members converge and said elongate slot extends along a line of minimum mutual spacing of said wall members. For example, it may be that one of said wall members is a substantially planar plate and the other wall member is a wall having a substantially planar portion connected to an inclined portion. In this case, preferably, said back plate and said wall are connected by a transverse web.

A plurality of objects may be received between the wall members and are preferably substantially cylindrical or substantially spherical. Preferably, the objects of said plurality are all substantially equal in size.

Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a holder of the present invention, Figure 2 shows an end elevation of the holder of Figure 1, Figure 3 shows a cross-section of the holder taken along the line A-A of Figure 1, and Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a holder of the invention.

The holder 1 shown in Figure 1 is intended to be screwed, adhered or otherwise secured onto a wall or other substantially vertical surface (not shown) for releasably holding sheets of material. A sheet 2 held by the holder is indicated in Figure 1 in dotted lines. This sheet 2 could be for example, a piece of paper, a thin film, an X-ray photograph, a plastics material wallet, a card or any other thin object it is wished to retain in a vertical or near vertical position.

In the embodiment illustrated, the holder 1 comprises an elongate back plate 3 which is connected to an elongate depending front wall 4 by way of a transverse, longitudinally extending web 5. The back plate 3 and the front wall 4 together define an elongate space 6 in which a plurality of balls 7 are received. Opposed end walls 11 are secured to both ends of the front wall 4 to retain the balls 7 longitudinally within the space 6. At its lower end, the front wall 4 has an inclined portion 8 which converges towards said back plate 3 to define therewith an elongate slot 9. The width of the slot 9 transversely of its longitudinal extent is less than any diameter of any of the balls 7. Accordingly, when the holder 1 is secured such that its back plate 3 extends substantially vertically as illustrated, the balls 7 under the influence of gravity fall downwardly to close the slot 9.

In use, if it is required to cause a sheet 2 of material to be retained by the holder, an edge or a corner portion thereof is pushed upwardly into the slot 9. The back plate 3 has a substantially planar front surface which projects below the slot 9 and this forms a guide surface for the sheet 2. As the edge or corner of the sheet 2 continues to be pushed upwardly it is guided to the rear of one or more of the balls 7 and causes those balls to be moved upwardly away from the slot 9 and forwardly along the inclined portion 8 of the front wall 4. Generally, the balls 7 contacted by the sheet 2 are rotated by the insertion of this sheet and this reduces any friction and thus reduces the force needed to position the sheet. Once the sheet 2 is in the required position it is released.

The balls 7 fall back towards the slot 9 and thereby, together with the back plate 3, grip the sheet in position. The sheet can be released when required simply by gently pulling it downwardly. As this movement causes the balls 7 to rotate there is reduced friction between the balls and the sheet which facilitates its withdrawal.

The holder 1 has the advantage that the balls 7 do not mark the sheets which are held thereby.

Furthermore, a number of sheets 2 can be individually inserted at different places along the length of the holder without the insertion of subsequent sheets causing the release of previously inserted sheets.

Similarly, one or more of these sheets can be removed without causing other sheets to be dislodged.

In the illustrated embodiment, the back plate 3, the web 5 and the front wall 4 are integrally formed from plastics material, for example, by an extrusion technique. The end walls 11, also of plastics material are secured, for example, by adhesive, by welding or by other suitable means as the balls 7 are introduced into the space 6. In this embodiment, the number of balls 7 is chosen such that the sum of their diameters is slightly less than the length of the space 6 between the end walls 11. Thus, all the balls 7 are generally aligned and in contact with each other with the small space providing a tolerance allowing substantially unfettered movement of any individual ball as necessary.

In the illustrated embodiment, the balls 7 are all substantially equal in size and are made of glass.

The size and weight of the balls 7 determines the weight of the sheets 2 that can be supported. In practice solid glass balls 15mm in diameter have been found able to retain 80 g.s.m. paper which is 500mm in length.

It will be seen that the end walls 11 are each spaced from the back plate 3. This enables a sheet 2 held in the holder 1 to project outwardly thereof in its longitudinal direction, for example, as indicated in Figure 1. Of course, if preferred, end walls which completely cover one or both ends of the space 6 may be provided.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, an elongate channel member 12 is formed on a forward surface of the front wall 4 integrally thereof.

Display or other strips (not shown) may be received in this channel member 12.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment in which a holder 101 is formed as part of a free-standing clip board. In this respect, the back plate 103 of the holder 101 is an extension of the support plate 113 of the board. At its end remote from the holder 101, the support plate 113 is bent to form a supporting base flange 114 which projects away from the plate 113. The holder 101 houses balls (not visible) as previously to retain sheets pushed therein.

In the embodiments described above a plurality of balls, generally equal in size, have been provided to retain the sheets in the holder. However, balls which vary in size and/or differently shaped objects may be provided. It is important that the objects have a substantially circular periphery to facilitate their rolling away and towards the slot 9, and also to reduce friction during removal and insertion.

However, for example, cylindrical objects having either flat ends or curved ends could be provided. In some circumstances, for example, where single sheets are to be retained as is generally the case with a stand as shown in Figure 4, a single roller extending longitudinally of the slot 9 could be provided.

The embodiments described above are integrally formed from plastics material. Of course, it will be appreciated that the holders may be made from any suitable material and may be made in sections and/or by any appropriate manufacturing technique.

The shaping of the walls or wall members of the holder may be chosen as required. For example, the holder could have a triangular cross-section formed by front and back sloping walls, and/or one or both of the front and back walls could be curved.

Other variations in or modifications to the invention may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. A holder for sheets of material comprising two spaced elongate wall members arranged to define an elongate slot, and one or more objects which each have a substantially circular periphery received between said wall members, the width of the slot substantially transverse to its longitudinal extent being less than any dimension of the or each object.

2. A holder as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said wall members converge and said elongate slot extends along a line of minimum mutual spacing of said wall members.

3. A holder as claimed in Claim 2, wherein one of said wall members is a substantially planar plate and the other wall member is a wall having a substantially planar porition connected to an inclined portion.

4. A holder as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said back plate and said wall are connected by a transverse web.

5. A holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein one of said wall members is defined by an extension of a sheet support plate.

6. A holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of substantially cylindrical objects are received between said wall members.

7. A holder as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of substantially spherical objects are received between said wall members.

8. A holder as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, wherein the objects of said plurality are all substantially equal in size.

9. A holder for sheets of material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.