WO1996033871A1

WO1996033871A1 - A paper holder

Info

Publication number: WO1996033871A1
Application number: PCT/GB1996/000992
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cornel Chu
Original assignee: Hi-Tech Industries Limited
Priority date: 1995-04-25
Filing date: 1996-04-24
Publication date: 1996-10-31
Also published as: GB9508397D0

Abstract

A holder (1) for supporting one of more sheets of paper comprises a gripping member (3) having a substantially planar support element (5) defining an aperture (13). A resilient tongue (14) formed integrally with the gripping member extends into the aperture. The resilience of the tongue permits flexing thereof to enable paper to be inserted between the tongue and the support element such that the paper is deflected out of a planar condition and is stiffened so as to stand substantially upright to permit information carried thereon to be viewed. The holder (1) is provided with means for mounting the holder upon any appropriate supporting surface (2).

Description

A PAPER HOLDER

The present invention relates to a holder for supporting one or more sheets of paper in a substantially upright position.

It is often necessary in an office or a domestic environment to read information from a sheet of paper whilst operating an item of equipment using both hands or whilst performing some other operation with both hands. A common example is the need to read text carried upon a sheet of paper whilst operating a computer or whilst typing on a typewriter or using a keyboard. In these situations it is convenient for the paper which carries the text or information which is to be read or viewed to be supported in a substantially upright position so that it may readily be viewed without causing the person reading the information any discomfort.

One previously proposed paper holder of this type is disclosed in EP-A-0278081. The paper holder disclosed in that document comprises an integrally moulded elongate member which defines an arcuate slot within which one or more sheets of paper are received. The arcuate nature of the slot causes the paper which is inserted to be bent and thereby stiffened so that it is supported in a substantially upright position. The paper holder of EP-A- 0278081 may be mounted upon a computer terminal by means of a substantially planar base to which the elongate, slotted member is connected. Whilst the paper holder of EP-A- 0278081 works satisfactorily in practice, the elongate, slotted member is designed so as to extend across the full width of a sheet of standard A4 size paper and the paper holder can therefore sometimes partly obscure information carried upon the paper. Even if the elongate, slotted member is formed from a transparent plastics material, this may still result in part of the information carried on the paper being slightly concealed, thereby necessitating the adjustment of the paper within the holder at some point during a copying operation. In addition, the size of the paper holder of EP-A-0278081 makes it slightly obtrusive and unsuitable for use in connection with certain applications. Thus, for example, it may not be suitable for use with small, lap-top or notebook type computers or for use in situations where space may be limited, such as for use as a copy holder in a motor vehicle.

The present invention seeks to provide a holder which addresses the points identified above and which is simple and reliable in use.

According to the present invention there is provided a holder for supporting one or more sheets of paper in a substantially upright position to permit viewing of information carried on the paper, the holder comprising a gripping member and means for mounting the gripping member upon a supporting surface; the gripping member comprising a substantially planar support element defining an aperture and an integrally formed resilient tongue, the resilient tongue extending into the aperture defined by the support element and lying in the general plane of the support member, the resilience of the tongue permitting deflection thereof to enable the insertion of paper into the gripping member with one of the tongue and support element engaging one side of the paper and the other of the tongue and support element engaging the opposite side of the paper and deflecting the paper out of a planar condition.

Preferably the means for mounting the gripping member on a supporting surface comprise a base provided with means for securing the base to the supporting surface, the gripping member being mounted on the base so as to be movable relative thereto in order to permit adjustment of the position of paper held in the gripping member.

Conveniently the gripping member is hingedly mounted upon the base.

Advantageously the base is provided with an adhesive pad by way of which the paper holder may be mounted on a supporting surface.

Preferably the resilient tongue is of reduced thickness in cross-section compared to the support element.

Conveniently the tongue is of elongate form being connected to the support element at one end, the opposite, free end of the tongue being bent out of the plane of the aperture defined by the support element, an open mouth being defined between the upwardly bent free end of the tongue and the support element by way of which paper may be inserted into the gripping member.

Advantageously the edge of the aperture defined by the support element over which paper received within the holder passes is chamfered or rounded.

Preferably the overall thickness of the gripping member is less than 3 mm and most preferably is approximately 2 mm.

Preferably the overall dimensions of the gripping member are less than 40 mm x 30 mm and most preferably are approximately 36 mm x 25 mm. In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a paper holder in accordance with the present invention shown in-situ upon a computer terminal;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the two main components of the paper holder when separated from each other;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, including a cross-section, of a first part of the paper holder on an enlarged scale; and

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3 also on the same enlarged scale as Figure 3.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a paper holder 1 in accordance with the present invention when mounted upon a computer terminal 2. It will be appreciated from Figure 1 that the paper holder is relatively small in size. The paper holder 1 comprises two main components, as illustrated more clearly in Figure 2 of the drawings. Thus, the paper holder comprises a gripping member 3 which serves to support one or more sheets of paper, the gripping member 3 being hingedly mounted upon a substantially planar base 4. The underside of the base 4 will normally carry an adhesive pad or similar mounting means by way of which the paper holder can be mounted upon any appropriate supporting surface. The adhesive pad, which is not visible in the drawings, would of course be provided with a removable protective sheet, the removal of which exposes adhesive when the paper holder is to be mounted in place upon a supporting surface.

Looking at the design of the two main components of the paper holder in slightly more detail, each component is formed integrally from ABS plastics material. The gripping member 3 is a relatively thin substantially planar component having a main portion 5 which is generally of elongate D-shaped form in plan elevation. Thus, the main portion 5 has opposed parallel edges 6,7 and the corners at one end of the member are rounded to define a near semi¬ circular shape, as identified by reference numeral 8. At its opposite end the main portion 5 is formed with two identical, spaced-apart projecting knuckles 9,10 which each form part of a hinge by way of which the gripping member is connected to the base 4. Each knuckle 9,10 is of hook-like configuration, defining a respective keyhole-sectioned channel 11,12 adapted snugly to receive and retain a further part of the hinge formed on the base 4.

The main portion 5 of the gripping member defines an elongate central aperture 13 which is of D-shaped form corresponding generally to the shape of the main portion 5. A resilient tongue 14 is formed integrally with the main portion of the gripping member and extends into the aperture 13 from the end thereof which is disposed closest to the knuckles 9,10. The tongue 14 is slightly smaller than the aperture 13 and of the same general shape as the aperture so that a small clearance 15 is defined around the tongue, within the aperture, as is best seen in the plan view of Figure 3. The tongue 14 is of reduced cross-sectional thickness compared to the remainder of the main portion 5 of the gripping member as can best be seen in Figure 3. Thus, the depth in cross-section of the resilient tongue may be approximately 1 mm whilst the depth of the remainder of the main portion of the gripping member may be approximately 2 mm. It can also be seen from the cross- section of Figure 3 that the uppermost edge of the periphery of the aperture 13, that is to say the edge defined by the junction between the upper surface of the main portion 5 and the periphery of the aperture 13 is rounded or chamfered as identified by reference numeral 16.

The free end of the tongue 14 is bent upwardly so as to extend at an angle to the general plane of the main portion 5 of the gripping member and thereby defines an open mouth 18 with the rounded end region of the main portion 5. When the paper holder is in use, paper is inserted into the gripping member by pushing the edge of the paper into the open mouth 18 whereupon the paper is guided beneath the resilient tongue 14.

The reduced thickness of the tongue 14 gives it sufficient inherent resilience to enable it to be deflected slightly upwardly from the position shown in Figure 4 as the paper is pushed underneath it, whilst at the same time the profile at the edge 16 around the aperture 13 facilitates the insertion of the paper and serves naturally to bend the paper around the underside of the tongue 14 without damaging the paper. The paper is therefore bent out of a planar condition. The inherent resilience of the tongue 14 causes the paper to be positively gripped as the tongue tends naturally to try and move back to the position of Figure 4. The gripping and deflection of the paper out of a planar condition causes the paper to be bent and stiffened so that it will stand generally upright, thereby enabling information carried on the paper readily to be viewed.

As mentioned above, the paper holder is relatively small and compact and the gripping member may have an overall length of approximately 36 mm and an overall width of approximately 25 mm.

Whilst the gripping member may be mounted upon any appropriate supporting surface by way of various means, in a preferred arrangement the gripping member is hingedly mounted on the base 4 which is in turn secured to a supporting surface, the arrangement enabling adjustment of the position of the gripping member so as to make the viewing of information carried on paper held in the gripping member as comfortable as possible for a user.

The base 4 has a base plate 19 which is substantially planar and of rectangular form with slightly rounded corners. At one edge the plate 19 is formed with three spaced-apart projections 20,21,22 between which an integrally formed pin comprising two pin sections 23,24 is supported. Each pin section 23,24 is supported between a respective outer projection 20,21 and a central projection 22. The design of the projections 20,21,22 and the pin sections 23,24 on the base and the knuckles 9,10 on the gripping member is such that each section 23,24 of the pin may be snugly received within the channel 11,12 of a respective knuckle 9,10 as a snap-fitting, thereby hingedly inter-connecting the base and the gripping member. The hinge joint is sufficiently "stiff" or tight to ensure that the base and the gripping member will not move freely relative to each other but will remain in a position to which they are set relatively to each other. The hinge joint between the gripping member 3 and the base 4 permits movement of the paper holder between a folded-up condition in which the base and the gripping member extend generally parallel with and overlie each other and an extended or unfolded condition in which these two components extend in generally the same plane, each component extending away from the hinge joint in the opposite direction to the other.

It will be appreciated from the description given above that the paper holder is assembled by simply snap- fitting the gripping member 3 onto the base 4 by way of the knuckles 9,10 receiving the pin sections 23,24. The paper holder may then be mounted upon any appropriate supporting surface where it is to be used by way of the adhesive pad provided on the underside of the base 4. As mentioned above, it is envisaged that one particular application for the paper holder will be in connection with a computer having a keyboard. The paper holder may be mounted adjacent an edge of a supporting surface in such a way that it can be moved between the folded-up condition in which it will lie almost flush against the supporting surface and the unfolded condition in which the gripping member 3 will project beyond the edge of the supporting surface so that it can receive one or more sheets of paper.

The design of the gripping member with an aperture in which a resilient tongue is located enables the holder to be made small whilst still affording a satisfactory grip on paper to be support. The particularly compact design of the paper holder means that only a small, edge region of the paper is received within the gripping member, this edge region of the paper normally forming a margin which would not carry any written text or the like and thus when paper is supported in the paper holder of the present invention none of the information carried on the paper will normally be concealed by the paper holder. When the paper holder is in the folded-up condition, it is very unobtrusive and if, for example, it is used on a portable or lap-top-type computer, it will not prevent the computer from being inserted into a carrying case.

The small size of the paper holder also makes it relatively economical to produce, with each of the two main components being of relatively simple design and formed integrally as plastics mouldings. The paper holder is easy to use and is adjustable in that the position of the gripping member relative to the base can be varied to any desired setting between the folded-up condition and the unfolded condition. The paper holder may have many uses, not only in connection with keyboards or computers but could be used to hold any generally planar relatively thin information carrier. Whilst in the preferred embodiment the gripping member is mounted upon a supporting surface by way of the base 4 it is envisaged that the gripping member could itself be provided with integral means for mounting the paper holder upon any supporting surface.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A holder for supporting one or more sheets of paper in a substantially upright position to permit viewing of information carried on the paper, the holder comprising a gripping member and means for mounting the gripping member upon a supporting surface; the gripping member comprising a substantially planar support element defining an aperture and an integrally formed resilient tongue, the resilient tongue extending into the aperture defined by the support element and lying in the general plane of the support member, the resilience of the tongue permitting deflection thereof to enable the insertion of paper into the gripping member with one of the tongue and support element engaging one side of the paper and the other of the tongue and support element engaging the opposite side of the paper and deflecting the paper out of a planar condition.

2. A holder according to Claim 1, wherein the means for mounting the gripping member on a supporting surface comprise a base provided with means for securing the base to the supporting surface, the gripping member being mounted on the base so as to be movable relative thereto in order to permit adjustment of the position of paper held in the gripping member.

3. A holder according to Claim 2, wherein the gripping member is hingedly mounted upon the base.

4. A holder according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the base is provided with an adhesive pad by way of which the paper holder may be mounted on a supporting surface.

5. A holder according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the resilient tongue is of reduced thickness in cross-section compared to the support element.

6. A holder according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the tongue is of elongate form being connected to the support element at one end, the opposite, free end of the tongue being bent out of the plane of the aperture defined by the support element, an open mouth being defined between the upwardly bent free end of the tongue and the support element by way of which paper may be inserted into the gripping member.

7. A holder according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the edge of the aperture defined by the support element over which paper received within the holder passes is chamfered or rounded.

8. A holder according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the overall thickness of the gripping member is less than 3 mm.

9. A holder according to Claim 8, wherein the overall thickness of the gripping member is approximately 2 mm.

10. A holder according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the overall dimensions of the gripping member are less than 40 mm x 30 mm.

11. A holder according to Claim 10, wherein the overall dimensions of the gripping member are approximately 36 mm x 25 mm.

12. A holder substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

13. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.