GB2293974A

GB2293974A - Magnetic picture frame

Info

Publication number: GB2293974A
Application number: GB9420646A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nicholas Mark Landon
Original assignee: MAGNETIC ATTRACTION Ltd
Current assignee: MAGNETIC ATTRACTION Ltd
Priority date: 1994-10-13
Filing date: 1994-10-13
Publication date: 1996-04-17
Also published as: GB9420646D0

Abstract

A picture frame 2 comprises a back plate 6 and a front piece 4 provided with a viewing aperture. The two are attracted to each other magnetically for clamping a picture or other object(s) therebetween. <IMAGE>

Description

PICTURE FRAME The present invention relates to a picture frame. More particularly, the invention relates to a picture frame of the type which comprises a planar back and a front which can be fitted to the back so as to hold a picture or other display object in position upon the back whilst allowing it to be viewed. It is to be understood that in the present context the expression "picture frame" is intended to include a frame suitable for displaying any generally flat object or arrangement of objects including photographs, written documents, cards, coins, dried flowers etc. However, for simplicity this specification will from here onwards refer to a picture as an example of an object for display.

Over the years, many attempts have been made to simplify the picture frame, which traditionally includes a surround with a rebated reverse, into which a picture is inserted and held in place by a back which is often located in a further rebate. Typically, the back is held in position within the frame by means of tacks or special metal inserts. As a further measure, the junction between the edge of the back and the abutting surface of the rebate is often sealed by an overlying layer of paper.

Whilst this traditional type of frame is widely acknowledged as a very successful and aesthetically attractive means for of framing a picture, its construction requires accurate measurement and assembly techniques which are, at the very least, time consuming. As a result, the fitting of such frames has normally required the services of an expert framer.

In view of the foregoing, there has, in recent years, been a move towards simplification of the framing process. One of these has been to provide a generally flat back and a generally flat front which is fitted to the back with the picture between the two in a sandwich-like arrangement. Typically the back comprises a piece of board and the front is a piece of glass or transparent plastic. The two are normally held together by means of an arrangement of clips or other mechanical fixing means.

In alternative arrangements the glass may be replaced by a flat frame piece which may or may not comprise glass in its central aperture and which is also fixed to the back by means of clips or some other mechanical fixing means.

Such frames provide a particularly simple means for framing a picture. However, it is easy for the clips to become lost, and they may be difficult to manipulate and to fit.

Furthermore, the junction between the front and the back at the frame is unsealed, allowing the ingress of dust and the like, thereby detracting from the visual effect provided the frame. In addition, although this is less of a problem than with traditional frames, such a type of frame still requires a not inconsiderable amount of time and effort to disassemble and reassemble should it be necessary to replace or realign the picture which is to be mounted.

The present invention sets out to provide a picture frame which requires no specialist skill to assemble and which can be almost instantly disassembled and reassembled with the minimum of effort. In addition, the present invention sets out to provide a picture frame which resists the ingress of dust and the like between the front and rear of the frame, thereby preserving the appearance of the picture mounted therein.

According to the present invention there is provided a picture frame comprising a back plate and a front piece provided with a viewing aperture, which back plate and front piece are magnetically attracted to each other for clamping a picture or other object or objects therebetween.

Preferably, the front piece is provided with a magnetic rear surface and the back plate comprises a magnetically attractive front surface.

Preferably the back plate is made from steel and the front piece is a multi-layered structure and one of the layers comprises a magnetic material. In one embodiment, the front piece is sufficiently flexible so as to enable the edges of the front piece to contact the back plate, when a picture is in place between the two, thereby encouraging a good seal.

In a preferred embodiment, the front piece is made from one or more plastics materials.

Alternatively it may be made from wood or metal or any other visually attractive material with appropriate physical characteristics. It may be sufficiently rigid to resist further flexion as it is removed from the back plate. To achieve this, the front piece may have a total thickness in the region of 3mm when made from plastics.

If desired the front piece could be provided with a rearwardly directed rebate for accommodating relatively thick pictures.

To further facilitate removal of the front piece from the back plate, the back plate may be provided with an aperture in order to allow a finger to contact the rear of the front piece and push it away from the back plate, so as to separate the two.

The back plate may be provided with a rearwardly extending foot comprising a first support surface inclined at an angle of less than 90" (but preferably approximately 80 ) to the front of the back plate, so that the back plate may be supported in a generally upright position but facing slightly upwardly, so as to facilitate viewing of the picture contained in the frame. The foot may be formed integrally with the back plate and the two may be formed from a single piece of metal bent through an appropriate angle.

One side edge of the foot may be inclined at an angle of less than 90" to the front face of the back plate in the plane of the first support surface, so as to enable the foot to be used as a support for the frame when the frame is rotated through 90" in the plane of the face of the frame.

Further preferred features of the invention are set out in the appended claims.

Due to the magnetic attraction between the back plate and the front piece, a picture can be clamped between the two. Because no clips or other mechanical fixings are required, the two components can be easily and repeatedly separated and assembled.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the following detailed description, in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the invention in an assembled state; Figure 2 is a view of the embodiment shown in figure 1 in a separated state; Figure 3 is an underneath view of the embodiment of figure 1 in an assembled state; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the embodiment of figure 1 in an assembled state; Figure 5 is a rear view of the embodiment of figure 1 in an assembled state; and Figure 6 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the front piece of the embodiment of figure 1.

The frame 2 illustrated in the figures comprises a front piece 4 and a back plate 6.

The back plate 6 is generally planar and is formed from mild steel, although another ferromagnetic material could be used instead. The bottom of the back plate 6 is provided with a foot 10 which is integral with the back plate and is, in practice, formed simply by rearwardly bending one edge of the sheet metal used for forming the back plate. The support surface 9 of the foot 10 is inclined at an angle a of about 80 to the rear of the back plate 6. This angle directs the face of the back plate 6 slightly upwardly when the back plate is supported with the support surface 9 of the foot 10 arranged in a horizontal plane, as shown in the figures.

The back plate 6 and its integral foot 10 are painted, but may be laminated with, for example, plastics material as an alternative.

It can be seen from figure 3 that the foot 10 has one edge 12 which is inclined perpendicularly to the face of the back plate, in the plane of the support surface 9, and one edge 14 which is inclined at an angle P of about 80C to the front of the back plate 6 in the plane ofthe support surface 9. The inclined edge 14 is provided so that the foot 10 may be used to support the frame on its side. Referring to figure 1, this would mean that side 100 is used as the base ofthe frame. Because the edge 14 ofthe foot 10 is inclined, the front of the frame still faces slightly upwardly when supported in this position, so as to facilitate viewing of any picture contained within the frame.

Although one edge 12 of the foot is shown to be perpendicular ( angle y) to the front of the frame in the plane of the support surface 9, the angle of inclination y of edge 12 of the foot 10 could be other than square, in a similar fashion to the edge 14.

Moreover, the respective angles of inclination I3,y of the edges 14 and 12 could be different, allowing a choice of inclination of the front of the frame from the vertical. In fact ,both of these angles of inclination ss, Y could be respectively different from the angle a, thereby providing three optional angles of inclination of the front of the frame with respect to the vertical.

The front piece 4 is a laminated structure formed from a plastics (vinyl) material layer 200 and a ferromagnetic backing layer 210. The front piece is generally rectangular and is provided with a concentric rectangular aperture 18. The front piece, due to the magnetic qualities of the ferromagnetic layer 210, attracts the back plate 8. Due to this, when the rear of the front piece 4 is brought into contact with the back plate 6, the two adhere due magnetic attraction. As a result, a picture may be clamped between the two and held securely in position.

The aperture 18 may be glazed. It is therefore particularly useful to use a plastics material as the layer 200 for the front piece, because this allows a certain degree of flexibility which enables a thin picture clamped between the front piece 4 and the back plate 6 to be more or less sealed from the outside when the aperture is glazed, thereby resisting the ingress of dirt and dust between the front piece and back plate. However, even if the front piece 4 is not flexible, particles can be prevented from entering the region of the aperture 18 via the gap between the front piece and back plate, because the clamping action ensures continuous surface contact between the front piece and back plate and a clamped flat picture. If the aperture 18 is left open (i.e. not glazed), then it does not, of course, matter whether the outer edge of the frame is sealed.In any case, many other visually attractive materials can be used as the front layer 200.

For instance, for aesthetic reasons, it may be desirable to use wood or even metal as front layer 200. It should be borne in mind that if the front piece 4 is to be made from metal, then the metal may be magnetised ferromagnetic material, thereby rendering magnetic layer 210 otiose.

The magnetic layer 210 is ideally a flexible material formed from a plastics-based matrix. Many such materials are currently available for use. In the case of the present embodiment, the layer 210 is made from rubber with a suspension of magnetic iron particles. The magnetic layer 210 need not be the rearmost layer, as long as the magnetic effect is present at the rear surface of the front piece. Alternative materials for layer 200 include cork, rubber, wood, metals, plastics, veneered materials, cardboard and textiles.

As is clearly visible in figures 2 and 5, the back plate is provided with an aperture 16.

This enables the insertion of a finger, so that one can separate the front piece 4 and the back plate 6 by pushing the rear of the front piece 4 via the aperture 16.

Whilst the illustrated embodiment employs a generally square back plate and a generally square front piece of a similar size, it will be appreciated that the dimensions, proportions and shapes which can be employed are almost infinitely variable. For instance, the front piece might be provided with a square perimeter, such as shown in the figures, but with an aperture of a completely different shape which may or may not be concentric. In addition, the relative sizes and shapes may be such that a number of different front pieces can be arranged side by side or in some other way simultaneously on a back plate, so as to enable a number of pictures to be displayed. Furthermore, the aperture 18 may be configured to receive a second front piece concentrically within, so as to give the effect of a picture surround.

As explained above, the aperture 18 may be left open or may be glazed by a transparent layer. The transparent layer could be provided between layers 200 and 210 or cover the entire front of the front piece, for example.

If a plastics material is used as the layer 200, and a magnetic material having a plastics matrix is used as the layer 210, it has been found that the front piece can effectively and efficiently be cut from a sheet of laminate material by means of a laser. However alternative manufacturing techniques such as punching or stamping can be used.

It should be understood that the magnetic roles of the front piece and back plate can be reversed. The back plate may be magnetic and the front piece made from a material which is attracted by the back plate. Similar materials to those discussed above may be employed.

Many further modifications and variations will make themselves apparent to those versed in the art. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described, but that the scope of the invention is determined rather by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A picture frame comprising a back plate and a front piece provided with a viewing aperture, which back plate and front piece are magnetically attracted to each other for clamping a picture or other object or objects therebetween.

2. A picture frame according to claim 1 comprising a front piece provided with a magnetized rear surface and a back plate comprising a magnetically attractive front surface.

3. A picture frame according to claim 2 wherein the front piece is a multi-layered structure and one of the layers comprises a magnetic material.

4. A picture frame according to claim 2, or 3 wherein the back plate is made from steel.

5. A picture frame according to claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the front piece is flexible enough to enable the edges of the front piece to contact the back plate when a picture is interposed between the two.

6. A picture frame according to any preceding claim wherein the front piece is made from one or more plastics materials.

7. A picture frame according to claim 6, wherein the front piece has a total thickness in the region of 3mm.

8. A picture frame according to any preceding claim, wherein the front piece comprises a layer made from wood, cork, rubber, cardboard, or a textile or veneered material.

9. A picture frame according to any preceding claim, wherein the front piece is made at least partially from metal.

10. A picture frame according to claim 9, wherein the front piece is made substantially entirely from a magnetised ferromagnetic metal.

11. A picture frame according to any preceding claim wherein the back plate is provided with an aperture for allowing a finger to contact the rear of the front piece and push it away from the back plate, so as to separate the two.

12. A picture frame according to any preceding claim, wherein the front piece is sufficiently rigid to resist further flexion as it is separated from the back plate.

13. A picture frame according to any preceding claim, wherein the back plate is provided with a rearwardly extending foot comprising a first support surface, for supporting the frame, which support surface is inclined at an angle of less than 900 to the front of the back plate.

14. A picture frame according to claim 13, wherein the first support surface is inclined at an angle of approximately 80 to the front of the back plate.

15. A picture frame according to claim 13 or 14 wherein one side edge of the foot is inclined at an angle of less than 900 to the front face of the back plate in the plane of the first support surface.

16. A picture frame according to claim 15 wherein each side edge of the foot is inclined at a respective angle of less than 90" to the front face of the back plate in the plane of the first support surface.

17. A picture frame according to claim 16, wherein each side edge of the foot is inclined at a respectively different angle to the front face of the back plate in the plane of the first support surface.

18. A picture frame substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.