US3056230A - Portable lectern - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 2, 1962 R. w. BRoKAw, JR 3,056,230

PORTABLE LECTERN Filed March l. 1960 FlG.l

Q Q INVENTOR ROBERTS WYCKOFF BROKAW,JR,

ATTORNEY United States Patent Orifice 3,055,230 Patented Oct. 2, 1962 3,056,230 PRTABLE LECTERN Roberts Wyckoff Brokaw, Ir., Wiimington, Del., assigner to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Dei., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. l, Het), Ser. No. 12,036 1 Claim. (Cl. 45-121) When presenting visual material to an audience, particularly material in the form of charts, a speaker is at a disadvantage in that he must turn his back to the audience in order to refer to the charts. If the speaker does not wish to turn away from the audience, he must carry any notes needed on separate cards or papers and the manipulation of such cards is often inconvenient, noisy, distracting and time consuming, thus disturbing the continuous flow of the oral presentation. In many cases, oral presentations must be made in locations which are not regularly equipped for such use `and a portable lectern is desirable. Also, when the charts for visual presentation Vmust be transported, it is desirable to have the charts bound together.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel portable lectern which is collapsible and foldable into a compact unit.

It is a further `object of this invention to provide a portable lectern having pages bound together in such a manner that said pages may be rotated about the means of binding of said lectern.

It is a .further object that a means be provided whereby the speaker using said portable lectern will have notes concerning the audience, visual material being presented available to said speaker, which notes will not be visible to the audience.

These and other objects will become apparent in the following description and claim.

This present invention is best defined by reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGURE l shows the portable lectern having a series of pages in the assembled position as it is used. FIGURE 2 shows the unit in an unassembled position. yIn the figures, a is a series of pages bound together to c (the top portion of the lectern) and to d (the front section of the lectern) by binding means b which may take -several forms such `as plastic or metal rings and a plastic or a metal spiral helix or coil-type spring. Any means of attachment is suitable which allows the pages zz and the top section of the lectern c to rotate about an axis parallel to and approximately coincident with the edge of the front section of the lectern d to which they are attached. The side sections e and f of the lectern are attached at edges g by a cloth hinge or any other suitable means which allows them to be rotated from the position shown in FIGURE 1, through the position shown in FIGURE 2, -to a position wherein they are folded over each other and the front section d on the top side of the unit as orientated in FIGURE 2. When the side sections e and f are `folded over the yfront section d, the top section c and pa-ges a may be folded over the side sections forming a compact, rectangular unit covered, on the outside by side c and d, which is convenient for carrying. To assemble for use, the folded unit is tirst opened to the position shown in FIGURE 2. The sides e and f are then folded back to the approximate positions shown in FIGURE 1 and the top section c and pages a are folded back over the side sections and attached by sliding `tabs h into slots j. Many other means of fastening sides e and f 4to top c are possible than h and j and any suitable means can be used. Returning to the folded form involves reversing the steps of assembly in the order heretofore described.

In use, the speaker starts with all of the pages a in position atop the top section c. As a page is presented, it is rotated about b until it hangs parallel to the lfront section d. IOn the back of each page except the first, at k, is a short rsum of, or notes concerning, the preceding page then being presented. The exact loca- 'tion of k is unimportant and may be varied to suit the individual using the unit. Note that the notes at k are not visible to the audience, and may be prepared beforehand when the charts are prepared, and require no manipulation on the part of the speaker.

The absolute dimensions of the unit may be varied considerably to suit various purposes. The relative dimensions are, however, important. Thus, sides e and f can be no wider than the front d lif the unit is tot be foldable to the compact unit described. Although the top c may be somewhat larger than ai,` it is ygenerally most convenient -if c is about the same size as d. The pages a may vary considerably in size although, if the unit is to be used as shown in FIGURE l, the pages a cannot be longer than the front d and, for purposes of folding into the compact carrying unit described, the pages a should also be no wider than the front d. It is also convenient if the pages a are narrower than the distance between the slots j. The slope at the top of sides e and f may be varied somewhat and thus the slope of the top c of the assembled unit. However, it is obvious that if the unit is to be used as shown in FIGURE 1, the outer edges of `side e and f must be `shorter than the edges attached t-o the front d. The unit as described has no 4back opposite to side d in FIG. l. Such a piece could be included by attaching a piece of the proper size to the outer edge of either e or f but a back is neither necessary or desirable in the present unit.

The speciiic representative example of the novel lectern set forth in the drawing, FIGURES 1 and 2, is one wherein the top, front and side sheet sections are heavy cardboard with side cloth hinges and a plastic coil hinge at the top; .the page units `are of heavy white paper.

All of the components of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are necessary with the exception of the notes at k. While these notes are a convenience to most speakers, there are those whose capacity of memory would enable them to remember all the material on the pages without consulting notes.

It is, of course, clearly understood that the novel portable lectern heretofore described and hereinafter claimed may be made of any type material which can be assembled to function in the manner described and claimed. Representative materials include pressed composition board, tempered masonite, cardboard, metal sheets, plastic sheets and reinforced sheets of more flexible materials such as leather, various plastics and fabrics.

'Ihe hinging means which may be utilized in applicants novel lectern encompasses a wide variety of materials 4such as flexible tapes, both plastic and fabric types (properly secured), various types of metallic and plastic hinges, such as continuous or intermittent spiral hinge units, and other types of hinging means which one skilled in the art will be readily cognizant of. In the specific embodiment of the present invention as represented in -the accompanying drawing, the front, top `and side sheet sections were fabricated from heavy cardboard; cloth hinges at the -side and a plastic coil spring at the top, the sheets of paper being heavy white paper.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, i-t is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claim.

The embodiments of the invention in wh-ich an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

A portable lectern foldable into a compact unit, said lectern comprising, in assembled form, a top sheet section hinged to a yfront sheet section, the side edges of said front section having hinged thereto supporting side sheet sections `of a width no wider than said lfront section, the upper edge of said side sections slanting downwardly from the ytop of said front section to the rear of said side sections, `the upper edge of said side sections having means for fastening to said top section, page units being superimposed on said -top section and hinged Where :said top section is hinged to said front section, said pages being no wider and no longer than said front section.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Plant; Jan. 12, Simmons June 26, Ziemmerman Apr. 23, Geyzer Jan. 14, Novak July 31, Hummel Dec. 6,

FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Jan. 14,

Great Britain Feb 26,

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