GB2325157A

GB2325157A - Picture frame

Info

Publication number: GB2325157A
Application number: GB9709076A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Shearer Wilson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-05-02
Filing date: 1997-05-02
Publication date: 1998-11-18
Also published as: GB9709076D0

Abstract

A unitary blank (1) for forming a picture frame comprises a planar sheet having a plurality of edges (4). The edges (4) are foldable about a fold line which lies in the plane of the sheet to provide a frame edge (5) of a picture frame formed from the folded blank (2). An integral clear portion (13) may be provided at one edge. The clear portion (13) is foldable to provide a protective cover for an object mounted in the frame (2) formed by the blank (1).

Description

PICTURE FRAME The present invention relates to a picture frame and to a blank for forming a picture frame.

Picture frames are often made of wood and are relatively expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, wooden picture frames are bulky and heavy and are therefore expensive to store and transport. Moreover, it is difficult and expensive to provide decorative picture frames in which the frame edges are decorated or which have cross-sections other than a simple square or rectangle.

An object of the present invention is to provide a picture frame which is cheap to manufacture and to store and transport and which can readily be decorated and/or have a variety of cross-sectional shapes.

According to the present invention, there is provided a unitary blank for forming a picture frame, the blank comprising a planar sheet having a plurality of edges, at least one of said edges being foldable about a fold line which lies in the plane of the sheet to provide a frame edge of a picture frame formed from the folded blank.

The blank may have locking means for locking said folded edge. Said locking means may be a tab provided on said foldable edge which is receivable in an aperture in the blank when said edge is folded to provide said frame edge.

The blank preferably has a base portion, said at least one foldable edge being foldable relative to the base.

The blank may have four foldable edges in opposed pairs, each pair of edges being foldable about parallel respective axes, said pairs of axes being orthogonal to each other, to provide a picture frame of rectangular base.

At least one foldable edge may be foldable about a single fold line. In this way, the frame edge of the picture frame formed from the blank may have a circular, oval, elliptical, semi--circular,-semi-oval or semielliptical cross-sectional shape, for example.

At least one foldable edge may be foldable about plural parallel fold lines.

The at least one foldable edge may be foldable about three parallel fold lines. In this way, the frame edge of the picture frame formed from the blank may have a rectangular, square or trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, for example.

The at least one foldable edge may be foldable about two parallel fold lines. In this way, the frame edge of the picture frame formed from the blank may have a triangular shape, for example.

The blank may include an integral clear portion at an edge, the clear portion being foldable to provide a protective cover for an object mounted in the frame formed by the blank.

A separate cover may be provided for protecting an object mounted in the frame formed by the blank.

The blank may be plastics, such as polypropylene.

The present invention also includes a picture frame formed from a unitary blank as described above.

Thus, the present invention provides a blank from which a picture frame can be formed. In use, one or more edges of the blank are folded over to provide the picture frame edges in the finished picture frame. The blank is potentially very cheap to manufacture. If a material such as plastics, in particular polypropylene, is used, the blank is very inexpensive. The blank can also be readily painted or printed on to provide surface decoration and can be shaped to provide different decorative effects. The frame can be maintained in its assembled form by adhesive, if desired.

Whilst reference is made herein to a "picture" frame, it is to be understood that the frame is suitable for framing any desired object, including substantially planar sheet-like objects such as photographs, paintings, prints, certificates, etc., and three dimensional objects such as sculptures, watches, etc.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a first example of a blank according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a second example of a blank according to the present invention; Figs. 3A-D are respectively a perspective view, a first side view, a plan view and a second side view of a picture frame assembled from the first example of Figure 1; Figs. 4A-D are respectively a perspective view, a first side view, a plan view and a second side view of a picture frame assembled from the second example of Figure 2; Figs. 5A-D are schematic views of the folding of a further example of a blank according to the present invention to provide a picture frame; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a further example of a blank according to the present invention; Fig. 7A-H are cross-sectional views of examples of picture frames assembled from blanks according to the present invention; Figs. 8 and 9 are schematic perspective views of further examples of picture frames assembled from blanks of the present invention; Figs. lOA-E are respectively a plan view of a further example of a blank according to the present invention and a perspective view, a first side view, a plan view and a second side view of a picture frame assembled from said blank; and, Figs. llA-D are respectively a perspective view, a first side view, a rear plan view, and a second side view of a picture frame assembled from a further example of a blank according to the present invention.

In Figure 1, there is shown a blank 1 for forming a picture frame 2 which is shown in Figure 3. The blank i is substantially planar. The blank 1 can be moulded or cut from any suitable material such as plastics, cardboard, paper, etc, which can be folded and which can retain its shape when folded. A particularly suitable material is polypropylene. For reasons which will become clearer below, the material of the blank may be transparent and may be selectively overprinted or painted to provide a decorative pattern or finish to the picture frame 2.

The blank 1 has a rectangular base portion 3.

Extending from each side of the base portion 3 are the precut edges 4 of the blank 1. The edges 4 are pre-cut so that when folded, the blank edges 4 provide the frame edges 5.

As indicated in the legend in the drawings, pre-cut lines in the blank 1 are indicated by a solid line; precreased fold lines are indicated by a dashed line; and precut holes are indicated by bold lines.

Each respective blank edge 4 has three parallel fold lines 6,7,8. In each case, the first fold line 6 is at the boundary between the base portion 3 and the blank edge 4, the second fold line 7 is a distance h away from the first fold line 6 where h is the height or thickness of the edge 5 of the formed picture frame 2. The third fold line 8 is a distance w away from the second fold line 7 where w is the width of a frame edge 5 in the formed frame 2. The distance h' from the third fold line 8 to the outermost edge 9 of the blank edge 4 is in this example substantially equal to h. Each outermost edge 9 is provided with one or two tabs 10 as shown which, in the formed picture frame 2, are received in corresponding holes or slots 11 provided in the base portion 3.

In the example shown in Figure 1, each of two opposed blank edges 4 is also provided with opposed tabs 12 which extend away from each other and parallel to the fold lines 6,7,8. Furthermore, one of the other blank edges 4 is provided with a clear or transparent portion 13 which extends away from what would otherwise have been the free edge 9' of that blank edge 4. This clear portion 13, which in the formed picture frame 2 provides a clear cover 13, has its own tabs 14 extending away from its free edge 15 remote from the base 3.

In the example of the blank 1 shown in Figure 1, because, as will be seen, the picture frame edges 5 have a square or rectangular cross-sectional shape in this example, two of the opposed blank edges 4 are rectangular (apart from the tabs 10,12 which can be ignored for this purpose) whilst the other two blank edges 4 are cut back or recessed along their side edges 16 between the second fold line 7 and the third fold line 8 so as to enable the various blank edges 4 to be folded and to fit together, as will be seen.

The second example of the blank 1 shown in Figure 2 is generally similar to that of Figure 1. In this example, there is a base portion 3 having holes or slots 11 for receiving tabs 10 on the blank edges 4. A clear or transparent cover 13 having its own locking tab 14 is again provided on one of the blank edges 4. The main difference between the example shown in Figure 2 from that shown in Figure 1 is that each blank edge 4 is provided with just two parallel fold lines 6,7. The blank edges 4 are cut back or recessed along the edge 17 between the first fold line 6 and the second fold line 7 and along the edge 18 between the second fold line 7 and the free edge 9 as shown. This gives rise to a frame edge 5 having a triangular cross section, as will be seen. As shown in Figures 4A-D, a picture frame 2 having a generally frustoconical shape can be formed from a blank 1 like that shown in Figure 2. The precise cross-sectional shape of the frame edges 5 will be discussed further below.

The method of forming the picture frame 2 from a blank 1 is shown in Figures 5A-D in which a minor variant of the blank 1 shown in Figure 2 is illustrated. Each blank edge 4 is folded about its first, innermost fold line 6 to bring the free edges 9 towards the base 3. Each blank edge 4 is then folded about its second fold line 7 to allow the respective locking tabs 10 to be passed into their associated respective slots 11 in the base 3. As shown in Figure 5B, at this point, the picture (i.e. the print, painting, certificate, or other object to be framed) 20 can be placed into the partly formed picture frame 2 onto the base portion 3. The clear cover portion 13 can then be folded over about its fold line 9' and locked in position by its locking tabs 14 which, in this example, are received either side of the single locking tab 10 provided on the opposite blank edge 4 as shown in Figure 5C. The completely formed picture frame 2 is shown in Figure 5D with further views being shown in Figures 4A-D.

As will readily be appreciated, the edges 4 of the blank 1 shown in Figure 1 are each folded about their three respective fold lines 6,7,8 to form a picture frame 2 having frame edges 5 of square (if h = h' = w) or rectangular (if h = h' w) cross-section, as shown in Figures 3A-D. The tabs 12 provided on two opposed edges 4 of the blank 1 are folded about their own respective fold lines 19 to be received in the hollow cavity of the formed frame edges 5 of the adjacent sides of the picture frame 2.

In the example shown in Figure 6, the blank 1 is provided with a separate cover 13 which has a pair of opposed tabs 14. In other respects, the example of the blank 1 shown in Figure 6 is similar to that shown in Figure 2. When the picture frame 2 is formed from the example of the blank 1 shown in Figure 6, the cover 13 is retained by passing the locking tabs 14 into recesses 21 provided between locking tabs 10 on two opposed frame edges 4. The recesses 21 in conjunction with the base 3 provide slots which can receive the locking tabs 14 of the separate cover 13.

As shown by way of example in Figure 7, many different cross-sectional shapes for the frame edges 5 can be formed from the blank 1 of the present invention. The separation and number of the fold lines 6,7,8 of the blank edges 4 can be varied to give rise to a wide variety of cross-sectional shapes for the frame edges 5 and can thus give the formed picture frame 2 an overall different appearance according to choice.

In particular, in Figures 7A-C, each of which can be formed from a blank 1 similar to that shown in Figure 1, there are three fold lines 6,7,8 for each blank edge 4. In the example shown in Figure 7A, the separations between each adjacent pair of fold lines 6-7 and 7-8 and from the third line 8 and the free edge 9 are all equal to give rise to a frame edge 5 of square cross-section. In other words, h = w = h' in this example. In the example shown in Figure 7B, the separations h and h' between the first and second fold lines 6,7 and the third fold line 8 and the free edge 9 are equal and are less than the separation w between the second and third fold lines 7,8. This gives rise to a frame edge 5 of rectangular cross-section. Of course, w could be less than h, h'.

In the example shown in Figure 7C, h and h' are not equal so that a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape is provided.

In the examples shown in Figures 7D and 7E, there is a single fold line 6. In the example shown in Figure 7D, the slots 11 for the locking tabs 10 are very close to the fold line 6 so that a substantially circular cross-sectional shape for the frame edge 5 is formed. In the example shown in Figure 7E, the slots 11 are a short distance from the associated fold line 6 so that a semi-circular or semielliptical cross-sectional shape for the frame edge 5 is provided.

In each of Figures 7F to 7H, there are two parallel fold lines giving rise to triangular cross-sectional shapes for the frame edges 5. In the example shown in Figure 7F, h > w. In the example shown in Figure 7G h < w. In the example shown in Figure 7H, h = w. Thus, different triangular profiles for the frame edges 5 can be provided.

It will immediately also be appreciated that the separation of the retaining slots 11 from their associated edge fold line 6 is also a factor in determining the crosssectional shape of the frame edge 5 formed therefrom.

Because the blank 1 is moulded or cut, it is very amenable to providing decorative effects. If an integral cover portion 13 is provided, and the blank 1 is formed entirely integrally from one material, it is necessary for that blank 1 to be formed of a transparent material. The portion of the blank 1 other than the cover 13 can be painted or printed with decorative patterns. Furthermore, the blank edges 4 can be pre-cut or pre-formed with a wide variety of interesting and appealing shapes, two of which are shown by way of example in Figures 8 and 9. In Figure 8, wedge-shaped cuts 25 are formed in the blank edges 4 so that triangular portions 26 of the frame edges 4 can be pulled out to provide a "jagged" decorative effect. In the example shown in Figure 9, the blank edges 4 are shown as being moulded and pre-cut to provide interesting and appealing shapes.

In the example shown in Figure 10A, wedge shapes 30 are cut into the blank 1 so that triangular portions 31 extend from the second, outermost fold line 7. As can be seen in Figures 1OB-E, these triangular portions 31 can be folded to extend outwards from the fold lines 7 in the completed picture frame 2 to provide a further interesting and appealing decorative effect.

As shown in Figures 11A-D, optionally, means may be provided for suspending or supporting the formed picture frame 2. For example, a through hole 35 may be provided in the base 3 of the picture frame 2 through which a nail or similar can pass in order to allow the picture frame 2 to be suspended. Supporting legs 36 may be provided on the rear of the base 3. The supporting legs 36 are preferably formed by appropriate cuts in the base 3, though the supporting legs 36 could be glued to the rear of the base 3 for example.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described with particular reference to the examples illustrated. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made to the examples described within the scope of the present invention.

Key to Figures 1. 2. 6 and 10

Body of frame Clear cover Tabs

Cut Lines Fold Lines Holes for tabs

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A unitary blank for forming a picture frame, the blank comprising a planar sheet having a plurality of edges, at least one of said edges being foldable about a fold line which lies in the plane of the sheet to provide a frame edge of a picture frame formed from the folded blank.
2. A blank according to claim 1, comprising locking means for locking said folded edge.
3. A blank according to claim 2, wherein said locking means comprises a tab provided on said foldable edge which is receivable in an aperture in the blank when said edge is folded to provide said frame edge.
4. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 3, comprising a base portion, said at least one foldable edge being foldable relative to the base.
5. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 4, comprising have four foldable edges in opposed pairs, each pair of edges being foldable about parallel respective axes, said pairs of axes being orthogonal to each other, to provide a picture frame of rectangular base.
6. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the or at least one foldable edge is foldable about a single fold line.
7. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the or at least one foldable edge is foldable about plural parallel fold lines.
8. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the or at least one foldable edge may be foldable about three parallel fold lines.
9. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the or at least one foldable edge is foldable about two parallel fold lines.
10. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 9, comprising an integral clear portion at an edge, the clear portion being foldable to provide a protective cover for an object mounted in the frame formed by the blank.
11. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 9, including a separate cover for protecting an object mounted in the frame formed by the blank.
12. A blank according to any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the blank is formed of plastics.
13. A picture frame formed from a unitary blank according to any of claims 1 to 12.
14. A unitary blank for forming a picture frame, substantially as described with reference any of the accompanying drawings.
15. A picture frame substantially as described with reference any of the accompanying drawings.