US2169290A

US2169290A - Transparent mounting frame for pictures

Info

Publication number: US2169290A
Application number: US200360A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rossi Umberto
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-04-14
Filing date: 1938-04-06
Publication date: 1939-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 1956-08-15

Description

u. ROSVSI, 2,169,290

TRANSPARENT MOUNTING FRAME FOR PICTURES Filed April 6, 1958 I INVENTOB. /Z Um 6;"70 F0 55/ BY @(XW ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRANSPARENT MOUNTING FRAME FOR PICTURES Umberto Ressi, Milan,

Italy, assignor to Guido Perera, New York, N. Y.

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to mounting frames, and more particularly, to transparent mounting frames for mounting stamps, photographs and similar pictorial representations on sheets, boards and albums.

Heretofore, when it was desired to mount postage stamps on sheets or into stamp collectors albums generally, asmall piece of gummed paper was employed having one of its ends pasted to the mounting sheet of the album and its other end pasted to the back of the postage stamp. Of course, this conventional procedure had various disadvantages. Thus, when the gummed tape did not stick well enough to the stamp or to the album sheet, stamps were easily lost. On the other hand, when the gummed tape provided good and strong adhesion of the stamp to the album sheet, the stamp was difficult to remove from the sheet. Frequently, valuable stamps were seriously injured or torn during the removal thereof. Moreover, the upper pictorial surface of the stamp was unprotected and was exposed to dirt, moisture and similar detrimental agencies. Of course, the removal of the stamps from the album for the purpose of closer inspection or exchange was a delicate and troublesome operation. The same was the situation in connection with the mounting of photographs or snapshots in albums. When the photographs were permanently mounted on the sheet or page of the album by means of a cementitious agent, they could not be removed from the album and if they were merely held by means of small cardboard strips at the edges thereof, as it was customary in many cases, they would readily fall out and were frequently lost. In both cases, the photographs were exposed to dirt and dust and did not retain their attractiveness for any length of time. Although various suggestions and proposals were made from time to time to solve the outstanding problem and to provide the art with a simple and safe mounting frame or device for stamps and pictures, none, as far as I am aware, of these various suggestions and proposals was completely satisfactory and successful when carried into practice on a practical and commercial scale.

I have discovered a simple and completely satisfactory solution of the outstanding problem.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting device for stamps, pictures and the like, which is free from the disadvantages of conventional mounting devices and methods.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved mounting frame for mounting photographs and stamps on a sheet or in an album, which is capable of securely holding the mounted article in a fixed position, in which it is fully exposed to view but is at the same time fully protected from dust, dirt, and moisture.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved mounting frame for mounting pictures, involving a framed transparent element attached to a sheet-like member underneath which the picture may be inserted and securely held in a position in which it is both fully visible and is fully protected from injury and from which it may be removed at a moments notice without the danger of injury to the picture.

The invention also contemplates a novel mounting device or mounting window for the preservation and exhibition of stamps, photographs and similar pictorial, articles which eliminates the necessity of cementitious agents being applied to the back face of the article to be mounted, and in which the article may be mounted into and may be removed from at a moments notice.

It is likewise within the contemplation of the invention to provide a novel and improved transparent mounting frame for mounting pictures such as photographs and stamps in albums which is extremely simple in construction, and which may be manufactured from strips of sheet-like material by means of a few simple operations at a low price.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a top elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 depicts a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a similar sectional view of a modified embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a transparent cover plate which may be employed in the mounting frame embodying the invention;

Fig. 5 illustrates a mounting strip for stamp albums and the like, embodying the invention, and having mounting frames or windows for three stamps;

Fig. 6 depicts a strip for the manufacture of a plurality of mounting frames;

Fig. 7 shows the strip depicted in Fig. 6 after the first manufacturing step involving the provi sion of square C-shaped incisions;

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the mounting strip after the insertion of the transparent cover plates; and

Fig. 9 is a bottom view of the strip shown in Fig. 8.

Broadly stated, according to the principles of my invention, I provide a base or mounting plate constituted of a sheet-like material such as, for example, paper, cardboard or asuitable textile material having strength and some flexibility. In this base, I provide one or a plurality of in cisions of such character as to substantially surround the article to be mounted. I prefer to provide these incisions in the form of a square 0, although, of course, it is possible to employ incisions of a different shape, such as a semicircular or polygonal shape. I prepare a piece of a transparent sheet-like material such as Celluloid, Cellophane or some other transparent film of a flexible character having a size slightly larger than the frame or window provided in the base by the incisions, except one side thereof. In case the incisions are of a square 6 shape, it is preferred to provide the transparent plate of sheet-like material in a rectangular form to provide a transparent cover plate. This cover plate is introduced in the window so that it extends. out of the uncut side of the window itself. Hereafter, the complete structure is cemented with its back to a suitable backing plate and pressure is applied to the complete structure so that the edges of the transparent film will show through the base in the form of a slightly raised line.

A plurality of finished mounting frames of the described character may be provided on a single strip of backing plate or on the sheet of an album. I prefer to slightly bend up the visible edge of the rectangular transparent sheet to facilitate the insertion and the removal of the pictures into and from the frame which may best be accomplished by means of a pair of tweezers.

The invention will now be more fully described to those skilled in the art, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a preferred embodiment of the invention into a picture mounting frame is illustrated. Essentially a base I constituted of paper or of a textile or other appropriate sheet material is provided having a square C-shaped incision 2 made therein. This incision produces a frame portion 3 and a tongue portion r which, however, remain integrally connected. Between this frame portion and tongue portion is inserted transparent cover plate 5 constituted of Celluloid, Cellophane or of some other transparent and flexible material. Cover plate 5 is preferably rectangu.- lar and is of such size that three of its longitudinal sides are slightly longer than the corresponding edges of frame portion 3 whereby a slight overlapping marginal portion 6 of generally square C-shaped form will extend underneath the frame portion and above the tongue portion. Frame portion 3 is slightly raised from the surface to provide space for the three edges of transparent cover plate 5 and for the article to be inserted. As it appears from Fig. 1, this frame portion is of a distinct width and in addition to providing space for accommodating the edges of the cover plate and the article to be protected, also imparts an attractive appearance to the finished product. Preferably, a suitable backing surface or sheet I is provided which can be a sheet having approximately the size of the complete structure or it can be of a much greater size such as the sheet plurality of mounting frames may be provided. On this backing sheet is cemented or pasted the complete structure in such a manner that the base I including tongue portion 4 and the back surface of the C-shaped marginal portion 6 of cover plate 5 are all cemented to the backing sheet or page whereby the slightly raised base, mounting frame and the transparent cover plate are permanently held in a fixed position. In this fixed position, a small opening or mouth 8 is provided between the base and the free edge of cover plate 5 through which a picture or stamp 9 may be introduced into the space defined by the top surface of tongue 4 and the bottom siu'face of the cover plate where it is retained by friction. The insertion and the removal of the picture is accomplished by means of a pair of tweezers.

I have found that the insertion of the picture into the mounting pocket provided between the tongue portion and the cover plate is greatly facilitated if the free edge portion of the cover plate is slightly bent up. This type of construction is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As it will be readily observed from these figures, the marginal portion H! of cover plate H is bent up to form an inclined surface which is capable of acting as a guide for the insertion of the stamp or picture El into the mouth of the mounting frame.

Preferably, a plurality of mounting frames embodying the principles of my invention are provided on a single sheet or backing plate such as the page of a stamp or picture album. Of course, the mounting frames provided on a single sheet or page may be of different size and shape in order to accommodate pictures of various sizes. Likewise, the mounting frames may be provided in a plurality of rows, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. An arrangement of this type is depicted in Fig. 5 in which three mounting windows or frames are shown which are arranged in a juxtaposed position.

I have found that the mounting frames embodying the principles of my invention may be manufactured in a simple and efficient manner from a sheet-like material in the form of a strip of tape by means of a few simple and inexpensive operations. The manufacturing steps will be best understood by referring to Figs. 6 to 9. In these figures, Fig, 6 illustrates a portion of the tape or strip !2 employed in the manufacturing process. As it can be seen from Fig. 7, the first step in the manufacturing process comprises providing incisions in the strip in the form of square Cs 53 which will provide integrally formed tongue portions l4 and frame portions l5 in the strip. Frame portions l5 are slightly raised from the surface to provide space for the edges of the cover plates and for the articles to be inserted, as it will be described hereinafter. Between the tongue and the frame portions are inserted individual cover plates 36 which have been prepared sepa rately and cut to an appropriate size, as it has been explained more fully hereinabove. This stage of the manufacturing process is shown in Fig. 8. As it will be readily observed from Fig. 8, the marginal portions ll of cover plates l6 are underneath the frame portions l5 of the strip. On the other side of strip l2 (Fig. 9), marginal portions ll of transparent cover plate l6 protrude beyond the edges of tongue portion M which remains integrally connected with the strip. Thus, a suitable backing strip (not shown) having identical or slightly larger dimenor page of a picture or stamp album on which a sions with the base strip 12 may be pasted to the back of the strip and will hold the transparent cover plates in a fixed position. Preferably, after the pasting or cementing operation, some pressure is applied to the upper surface of the finished strip which will cause firm cementation of the various elements of the structure and at the same time provides a slightly raised frame portion of distinct width around the transparent cover plate. The finished product is illustrated in Fig. at a slightly larger scale than in Figs. 6 to 9. Stamps l8 are inserted underneath the cover plates and are retained by friction. Reference character l9 denotes the slightly raised frame portion of distinct width around the cover plate providing an attractive, window-like structure. Of course, any number of individual pockets or windows may be provided in a single strip of suitable length, the strip being subsequently cut into individual units having the desired number of windows therein. The units are pasted in an album in a plurality of rows on each page, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Instead of providing the structure with a backing strip prior to pasting it into an album, it is also possible to omit the backing strip, and to paste the base strip directly on the page of the album in which case the page itself forms the backing surface holding the various elements together.

It will be noted that the mounting frames embodying the principles of the present invention provide a number of important advantages. Thus, the mounting frames of the invention will hold pictures, stamps and photographs protected from external contact, dust and injury. As no cementitious agents are applied to the back of the stamps or photographs, they may be inserted into the frames or may be removed therefrom at a moments notice.

t is also to be observed that the mounting frames of the invention have a very attractive appearance and show each stamp or photograph as inserted in an individual and appropriate frame. Of course, this greatly enhances the appearance of any collection of stamps or of photographs.

Moreover, due to the extreme simplicity of structure and the facility of manufacture, the mounting frames embodying the invention may be manufactured and sold at a very low price.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with a few preferred embodiments thereof, variations .and modifications may be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention. I consider all of these variations and modifications as within the true spirit and scope of the present invention as disclosed in the present description and defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An individual mounting frame for pictures comprising in combination, a substantially quadrangular base of a fiexible and sheet-like character, three incisions in said base parallel to three side edges of said base respectively and forming a substantially square C-shaped continuous slit therein for a single stamp, and a substantially rectangular transparent film having dimensions somewhat larger than the window defined by said incisions having three of its edges inserted in said slit to form a transparent cover plate therefor and having its fourth edge free for the insertion of a. picture underneath said cover plate, the margin of said slit in said base being slightly raised and being adapted to form a frame for said window and the extreme edges of the back side of said base being adapted to be cemented to a supporting surface for holding said base and said cover plate in a fixed position.

2. An individual mounting frame for pictures comprising in combination, a substantially quadrangular base of a flexible and sheet-like character, three incisions in said base parallel to three side edges of said base respectively and forming a substantially square C-shaped continuous slit therein for a single stamp, and a substantially rectangular transparent film having dimensions somewhat larger than the window defined by said incisions having three of its edges inserted in said slit to form a transparent cover plate therefor and having its fourthedge free and bent up to a slight extent to facilitate the insertion of a picture underneath said cover plate, the margin of said slit in said base being slightly raised and being adapted to form a frame for said window and the extreme edges of the back side of said base being adapted to be cemented to a supporting surface for holding said base and said cover plate in a fixed position.

3. An individual mounting frame for pictures comprising in combination, a substantially quadrangular base of a flexible and sheet-like character, three incisions in said base parallel to three side edges of said base respectively and forming a substantially square C-shaped continuous slit therein for a single stamp, and a substantially rectangular transparent film having dimensions somewhat larger than the window defined by said incisions having three of its edges inserted in said slit to form a transparent cover plate therefor and having its fourth edge free and bent up to a slight extent to facilitate the insertion of a picture underneath said cover plate, said structure being adapted to be firmly pressed against and to have the extreme edges of said base cemented to a supporting surface whereby the margin of said slit in said base will form a frame for said cover plate andsaid base and said cover plate will be held in a fixed position in which the edges of said cover plate will show as a raised line on the top surface of said base and will define a frame portion of distinct width thereon.

UMBERTO ROSSI