WO1997030610A1

WO1997030610A1 - Foldable bookstand

Info

Publication number: WO1997030610A1
Application number: PCT/KR1996/000240
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sang-Do Kim
Original assignee: Kim Sang Do
Priority date: 1996-02-24
Filing date: 1996-12-16
Publication date: 1997-08-28
Also published as: AU1072597A; KR0179235B1; KR970061150A

Abstract

A bookstand, selectively used as a carrying case for books, is disclosed. The bookstand has two rectangular back panels. A juncture hinges the longitudinal inside edges of the two panels together in order to allow the two back panels to be selectively folded up around the juncture into the carrying case. The juncture forms a longitudinal channel used for receiving and holding the binding of a book. A rack means is provided on the lower portion of each panel and holds up the bottom side of the book laid on the back panels. A page-holding means is provided on each panel at a position under the rack means and holds the open pages of the book in order to set the pages in the open state. A propping means is provided on each panel's back surface and props the bookstand.

Description

FOLDABLE BOOKSTAND

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to a bookstand and, more particularly, to a structural improvement in such a bookstand in order to use the bookstand either for holding a book at an appropriate leaning angle suitable for comfortable reading or for holding a book while carrying or keeping the book.

Description of the Prior Art

Several types of bookstands, which are used for holding books at an appropriate leaning angle suitable for comfortable reading, are well known to those skilled in the art. A typical bookstand comprises a generally-rectangular back panel of a single structure, which is used for holding an open book while leaning the book back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading. The lower portion of the back panel is provided with a longitudinal rack for holding up the bottom edge of a book laid on the back panel. The above rack is provided with, preferably, two page-holding arms for holding the open pages of a book thereby preventing the open pages from being undesirably turned over. It is preferable to bias the page-holding arms by respective torsion springs in order to elastically hold the open pages. The back panel having the rack is held on, for example, a table by a propping means, so that the panel, which leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading and holds a book thereon, can be stably propped on the table without falling over backward. The bookstand is also provided with a means for adjusting the leaning angle of the back panel between predetermined multistage angles. The leaning angle adjusting means cooperates with the propping means in order to adjust the leaning angle of the back panel and to set the selected leaning angle. However, the typical bookstand has the following problems.

1. As the back panel of the typical bookstand has a flat front surface, the front and back covers of an open book almost substantially meet the flat surface of the panel. The binding of the open book in the above state protrudes toward a reader, so that the middle portions of the open pages bulge out toward t e reader. In this case, it is somewhat difficult to read the open pages, reducing the reading efficiency. In addition, the binding of the open book, held on the bookstand, also causes some of the pages nearest the open part of the book to regrettably lift off or separate from each other and thereby causes the pages to lose their crispness. Such loose pages may be undesirably turned over, forcing a reader to find his place again. Particularly, when a new book is laid on the bookstand, the loose pages may cause the open book to suddenly close. In order to set the loose pages in their open state, the page-holding arms must press down the loose pages with excessive force thereby being overloaded. Therefore, the spring -biased holding arms may gradually weaken with time.

2. The back panel of the typical bookstand has a single structure which cannot be folded up, so that the typical bookstand is less likely to be carried by a user when the user goes out. In this regard, it is almost impossible to use the typical bookstand without regard for the conditions of the reading place, thus regrettably limiting the use of the bookstand.

3. In order to mark the previously -referred pages thus finding the pages again quickly while reading a book laid on the typical bookstand, a plurality of separated bookmarks or attached bookmark ribbons must be put between the pages, In addition, when a reader, who is a booklover, goes out while reading a book, the reader removes the book from the bookstand and carries the book while leaving the bookstand on a table, and lays the book again on the bookstand after returning.

4. In the typical bookstand, both the size of the back panel and the structure of the page-holding arms are standardized on the basis of a book having a given size and thickness. Therefore, the standardized bookstand may fail to stably hold another book having a different size and thickness. In addition, the book having a different size and thickness also causes the spring-biased page-holding arms to be overloaded and gradually weaken with time. 5. When turning over a page while reading, the spring -biased page-holding arms must be manually lifted up from the respective open pages prior to turning over the page. After turning over the page, the holding arms are again pressed against the open pages in order to hold the pages. Therefore, the page-holding arms of the typical bookstand are inconvenient to readers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a bookstand in which the above problems can be overcome and to provide a foldable bookstand which is used either for holding a book at an appropriate leaning angle suitable for comfortable reading or for holding a book while carrying or keeping the book.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a bookstand selectively used as a carrying case for books, comprising two rectangular back panels, and a juncture hinging the longitudinal inside edges of the two back panels together in order to allow the two panels to be selectively folded up around the juncture into the carrying case. The juncture forms a longitudinal channel in order to receive and hold the binding of a book. The bookstand also includes a rack means used for holding up the bottom side of the book laid on the back panels. The rack means is arranged on the lower portion of each panel's front surface. The bookstand further includes a page-holding means and a propping means. The page-holding means is provided on each panel at a position under the rack means and holds the open pages of the book in order to set the pages in the open state. The propping means is provided on each panel's back surface and props the bookstand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the configuration and construction of the back side of a foldable bookstand in accordance with the primary embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the configuration and construction of the front side of the above bookstand;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the operational effect of a page-holding means of the bookstand according to this invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing how to insert an open page of a book into the nip under the page-holding part of a holding arm included in the page-holding means of this invention;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the .instruction and operation of a prop closing means according to this invention;

Fig. 6A is a perspective view showing the construction of a width-adjustable means of a juncture in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6B is a cross sectional view showing the operation of the width -adjustable means of Fig. 6A;

Fig. 7 A is a view showing an open book held on the bookstand of this invention; Fig. 7B is a view showing a book held in the closed bookstand when the bookstand is used as a carrying case;

Fig. 7C is a sectional view showing the operational effect of a buckling means when the bookstand is used as a carrying case; and

Fig. 8 is a side view showing the bookstand of this invention, when the bookstand leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading and is propped on a table by a propping means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figs. 1 to 5 show a foldable bookstand in accordance with the primary embodiment of this invention. As shown in the drawings, the bookstand includes two rectangular back panels 1 and 1' of the same size. The longitudinal inside edges of the two panels 1 and 1' are hinged together by a width-adjustable juncture 4. The two panels 1 and 1 ' can be thus folded up around the juncture 4. The juncture 4 receives and holds the binding B' of a book B (see Fig. 7A), when the book B is laid on the opened bookstand while reading or is carried by a user. The bookstand also includes a rack means 2, which holds up the bottom side of the open book B laid on the back panels 1 and 1' thus holding the book B on the leaning bookstand. The rack means 2 is arranged on the lower portion of each panel's front surface. A page-holding means 7 is provided on each panel 1, 1' at a position under the rack means 2 and is used for holding the open pages of the book B in order to set the pages in the open state. The bookstand further includes a means 8 for propping the bookstand on a table, when the bookstand leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading. The propping means 8 is provided on the back of each panel 1, 1 '.

When the panels 1 and 1' are fully opened in order to form a planar surface as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the longitudinal juncture 4 withdraws from the planar surface of the panels 1 and 1 ' backward thus forming a longitudinal channel. The channel formed by the juncture 4 receives the binding B' of the open book B. In the present invention, the width of the juncture 4 is adjustable in order to freely receive various bindings B' of different thicknesses. The juncture 4 comprises two longitudinal connector walls 5 and 5', which are rotatably mounted to the inside edges of the respective panels 1 and 1 ' and are integrated into a single structure by a width-adjustable means 6. The connector walls 5 and 5' and width-adjustable means 6 preferably have the same length as that of each panel 1. 1 ' . In accordance with the primary embodiment of this invention, the width -adjustable means 6 comprises a flexible corrugated panel 61 which extends between the respective connector walls 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Due to the corrugated structure of the panel 61, the width of the juncture 4 is adjustable in order to meet the thickness of a book B. In accordance with a second embodiment of this invention, the width-adjustable means 6 comprises two longitudinal holders 62 and 62' which extend from the respective connector walls 5 and 5' as shown in Figs. 6A and 6B. Each holder 62. 62' is hollowed in order to form a guide slit 63. The inside end of the guide slit 63 is partially closed by a stopper 64. The width-adjustable means 6 also includes a rectangular panel 65 which cooperates with the holders 62 and 62' in order to adjust the width of the juncture 4. Opposite side portions of the rectangular panel 65 are movably received in the guide slits 63 of the holders 62 and 62'. The opposite side edges of the panel 65 are flanged in order to form respective stop flanges 66. When the holders 62 and 62' are fully pulled in opposite directions relative to the panel 65, the stoppers 64 of the holders 62 and 62' are brought into contact with the stop flanges 66 of the panel 65 thus preventing the panel 65 from being separated from the holders 62 and 62'.

The propping means 8, which props the bookstand when the bookstand leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading, comprises an openable rectangular supporter 83. The openable supporter 83 is hinged to the back surface of each panel 1, 1 ' so as to be rotatable relative to the panel 1, 1' within a predetermined angle. The above supporter 83 has several pairs of stoppers 84. A rectangular prop 81 is hinged to the back surface of each panel 1, 1 ' at a position above the hinged joint of the supporter 83. The free end corners of the hinged rectangular prop 81 extend outward to a length thus forming two protrusions 82. When the bookstand is propped at a leaning position, the protrusions 82 of the prop 81 are caught by a pair of stoppers 84 in the supporter 83. The prop 81 in the above state fixes the supporter 83, thus stably propping the bookstand which leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading. In the above propping means 8, the hinged joint of the supporter 83 is biased by a spring means 85. Due to the spring means 85, the supporter 83 in an open position elastically returns to a fully closed position on the back surface of each panel 1, 1 ' when the prop 81 is removed from the supporter 83. The construction and operation of the above spring means 85 are shown in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 5, the spring means 85 comprises a specifically -bent plate spring. The top and bottom portions of the above plate spring form linear fitting parts 85a and 85b, while the intermediate portion between the two fitting parts 85a and 85b is bent into an S-shaped cross-section thus forming an elastic part 85c.

The rack means 2 comprises at least one short rack which is horizontally placed on the lower portion of each back panel 1, 1 '. In order to prevent the short racks of the back panels 1 and 1 ' from interfering with each other when the two back panels 1 and 1 ' are fully closed, the short racks are arranged on the respective panels 1 and 1 ' so as to be overlapped with each other when closing the panels 1 and 1 '.

As shown in Fig. 2, the page-holding means 7 comprises a horizontal guide rail 71 which is formed on the front surface of each back panel 1, 1 ' at a position under the rack means 2. A slider 72 is movably received in the guide rail 71. The page-holding means 7 also includes an elastic holding arm 75. The holding arm 75 is coupled to the slider 72 by a fitting part and holds an open page by a page-holding part 78. The holding arm 75 is bent in order to pass over the rack means 2 without causing any interference between them and extends up to the holding part 78 which is positioned above the rack means 2. The slider 72 has a fitting hole 73 which receives the fitting part 78 of the arm 75. The bottom wall of the fitting hole 73 is transversely grooved in order to form a plurality of stop grooves. The slider 72 also has a snap hole 74 on its top wall. The holding arm's fitting part, which is fitted into the slider 72, is transversely grooved on its bottom wall in order to form a plurality of stop grooves 76. The stop grooves 76 of the holding arm 75 detachably engage with the stop grooves of the slider 72 in order to adjust the inserted depth of the arm's fitting part in the slider 72. In order to prevent the holding arm 75 from being unexpectedly removed from the slider 72, the arm's fitting part has a snap hook 77 which selectively snaps into the snap hole 74 of the slider 72. The rounded tip 79 of the arm's holding part 78 is bent in order to slightly come off an open page thus allowing another page to be smoothly inserted into the nip between the holding part 78 and the open page.

In order to prevent the bookstand from being suddenly opened while the bookstand is used as a carrying case, the bookstand is preferably provided with a buckling means 9. As shown in Fig. 1 and 7C, the buckling means 9 comprises a strap holder 91 which is transversely mounted on the back surface of each panel 1, 1' at a position around the outside edge of each panel 1, 1 '. The strap holder 91 has a grooved fitting hole 93 and a snap hole 92. The fitting hole 93 axially extends inside the holder 91, while the snap hole 92 is formed on the outside wall of the holder 91. The buckling means 9 also includes two longitudinal straps, that is, male and female buckling straps 94' and 94, which have a predetermined width and are detachably coupled to the respective strap holders 91. One side of each strap 94, 94' is transversely grooved in order to form a plurality of stop grooves 95. The grooves 95 of each strap 94, 94' detachably engage with the grooves of an associated strap holder 91, so that it is possible to adjust the length of each strap 94, 94' extending from the holder 91. In order to prevent an unexpected separation of the straps 94 and 94' from the respective strap holders 91, each strap 94, 94' has a snap hook 96 which selectively snaps into the snap hole 92 of an associated holder 91. The tip of the female strap 94 has a hook slot 98, while the tip of the male strap 94' has a hook 97 which is selectively hooked into the hook slot 98. The operational effect of the bookstand of this invention will be described hereinbelow. When the bookstand of this invention is used for holding a book while reading on a table, the back panels 1 and 1' are opened in order to form a planar surface as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thereafter, the supporters 83 of the propping means 8 are opened prior to setting the supporters 83 by the respective props 81 as shown in Fig. 8. The bookstand leans back at an appropriate angle suitable for comfortable reading and is stably propped by the propping means 8. In the above state, the longitudinal juncture 4 withdraws from the planar surface of the panels 1 and 1 ' backward in order to form a longitudinal channel. Thereafter, an open book B is laid on the above bookstand by locating the binding B' of the book B inside the juncture 4. The open pages are held by the respective page-holding arms 75. Due to the longitudinal channel formed by the juncture 4, the bookstand effectively reduces the gap formed between the covers of the open book B and the panels 1 and 1 ', thus almost completely flattening the open pages. Therefore, a reader easily and comfortably reads the open pages and is less likely to have an eye strain while reading. The juncture 4 also prevents the open book B from moving on the bookstand, so that the bookstand stably holds the book B. Another advantage of the bookstand resides in that the open book B is less likely to be unexpectedly closed as the binding B' is located in the juncture 4. Therefore, the page-holding means 7 is not overloaded and is prevented from weakening with time.

In the bookstand of this invention, the width of the longitudinal channel formed by the juncture 4 is easily adjusted, thus freely receiving the binding of a book regardless of the book's thickness. That is, when a thick book is held on the bookstand according to the primary embodiment, the flexible corrugated panel 61 of the juncture 4 is extended in order to widen the channel of the juncture 4 and to receive the thick binding of the book. In the second embodiment, the channel formed by the juncture 4 is widened by pulling the panels 1 and 1' outward as shown in Fig. 6A. In the above state, the holders 62 and 62' fixed to the respective panels 1 and 1' move outward relative to the rectangular panel 65, thus extending the panel 65 and widening the channel of the juncture 4.

When the panels 1 and 1 ' of the second embodiment are fully pulled outward in order to fi 'y widen the channel of the juncture 4, the stoppers 64 of the holders 6. and 62' are brought into contact with the stop flanges 66 of the panel 65 thus preventing the panel 65 from being separated from the holders 62 and 62'.

When a thick book is held on the bookstand, the gap between the holding part 78 of each page-holding arm 75 and an associated panel 1, 1 ' must be enlarged enough to receive the open book without damaging the hold arm 75. In order to enlarge the above gap, the holding arms 75 are pulled out from the respective sliders 72 thus extending the fitting parts of the arms 75 from the sliders 72 as shown in Fig. 3. That is, the arm's fitting part provided with the stop grooves 76 is pulled out from the slider 72 to a length after releasing the stop grooves 76 from the grooves 73 of the slider 72. Thereafter, the pulling force is removed from the holding arm 75, the arm's holding part 78 is elastically pressed against an open page of the book. The stop grooves 76 in the above state are elastically biased backward and are caught by the grooves 73 of the slider 72, so that the arm's fitting part is fixed in the adjusted position inside the slider 72.

The fully retracted position of each holding arm 75 is shown in the solid line of Fig. 3, while the fully extended position of the arm 75 is shown in the phantom line of Fig. 3. In the fully extended position of the arm 75, the snap hook 77 of the arm 75 snaps into the snap hole 74 of the slider 72 thus preventing a separation of the arm 75 from the slider 72. The position of the page-holding arm 75 may be appropriately adjusted within the range from the fully retracted position to the fully extended position.

The page-holding means 7 may transversely move on each panel 1, 1 ', thus locating the holding part 78 of each arm 75 on an appropriate position of an open page in accordance with the size of a book. Due to the movable construction of the page-holding means 7, the holding arms 75 effectively hold the open pages of a book at appropriate positions regardless of the size of the book. In the present invention, the holding part 78 of the page-holding means 7 is preferably made of a transparent material suitable for allowing a reader to read the letters behind the part 78. The rounded tip 79 of the arm's holding part 78 is bent in order to slightly come off an open page, so that the open page can be simply turned over without handling the holding arm 75 differently from a typical page-holding means. That is, an open page to be turned over is pulled out from the nip under the holding part 78 and in turn is inserted into the nip under the other holding part 78 through the open tip 79 as shown in Fig. 4. After inserting the page into the nip, the page is pulled outward so as to pass the nip until the page is fully opened.

The bookstand of this invention may be used as a carrying case. In order to use the bookstand as a carrying case, the panels 1 and 1 ' are closed in order to keep a book B therein as shown in Fig. 7B. In the above state, the binding B' of the book B is positioned inside the junction 4. Therefore, a reader can easily carry the bookstand covering the book into a compact configuration and thereby effectively uses the bookstand without regard for the conditions of the reading place. The bookstand may be used for covering a book while keeping the book, so that the bookstand does not use unnecessary space. When a book is kept by the closed bookstand as described above, the page-holding arms 75 are put between pages thus allowing the reader to find the pages again quickly. That is, the page-holding arms 75 of the bookstand according to this invention may be effectively used in place of typical bookmarks.

When the bookstand of this invention is used in place of a carrying case, the panels 1 and 1 ' are clamped by the buckling means 9 into a compact configuration as shown in Fig. 7C. In order to clamp the panels 1 and 1 ', the two buckling straps 94 and 94' are pulled out from the respective strap holders 91 prior to engaging the hook 97 of the male strap 94' into the hook slot 98 of the female strap 94. Due to the bucking means 9, the panels 1 and 1 ' of the bookstand are prevented from being suddenly opened, so that the bookstand is easily carried by a user when it is used as a carrying case. When the panels 1 and 1 ' are tightly buckled up by the straps 94 and 94' as shown in the phantom line of Fig. 7D, the straps 94 and 94' are bent toward each other and the stop grooves 95 of the straps 94 and 94' are caught by the outside edges of the respective panels 1 and 1 '. The straps 94 and 94' in the above state cannot be further extended from the holders 91 and thereby retain the tightly buckled state of the panels 1 and 1'. When the buckling straps 94 and 94' are fully extended from the respective holders 91 in order to keep a thick book, the snap hooks 96 of the straps 94, 94' snap into the respective snap holes 92 of the holders 91 thereby preventing the straps from further extending. It is thus possible to prevent separation of the buckling straps 94 and 94' from the respective holders 91. The extending length of the buckling straps 94 and 94' from the holders 91 is appropriately adjusted in accordance with the thickness of a book. When the bookstand of this invention is used for holding a book while reading, the buckling means 9 is not used. In the above state, the buckling straps 94 and 94' are fully retracted into the respective holders 91 as shown in the solid line of Fig. 7C, so that the buckling straps 94 and 94' are not exposed outside the panels 1 and 1 '. The fully retracted straps 94 and 94' are free from spoiling the appearance of the bookstand and from standing in one's way when handling the bookstand while reading.

As described above, the present invention provides a structurally-improved bookstand. The bookstand of this invention is used either for holding a book at an appropriate leaning angle suitable for comfortable reading or for holding a book while carrying or keeping the book.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A bookstand selectively used as a carrying case for books, comprising: 5 two rectangular back panels; a juncture hinging longitudinal inside edges of said two back panels together in order to allow the two back panels to be selectively folded up around the juncture into the carrying case, said juncture forming a longitudinal channel in order to receive and hold a binding of a o book; rack means for holding up a bottom side of the book laid on the back panels, said rack means being arranged on a lower portion of each panel's front surface; page-holding means for holding open pages of the book in order 5 to set the pages in the open state, said page-holding means being provided on each panel at a position under said rack means; and means for propping said bookstand, said propping means being provided on each panel's back surface.

0 2. The bookstand according to claim 1, wherein said juncture comprises: two longitudinal connector walls rotatably mounted to said inside edges of the respective panels; and width -adjustable means extending between said connector walls. 5

3. The bookstand according to claim 2, wherein said width-adjustable means comprises a flexible corrugated panel extending between the connector walls.

0 4, The bookstand according to claim 2, wherein said width-adjustable means comprises: two longitudinal slitted holders extending from the respective connector walls, each of said holders having a guide slit and said slit being partially closed by a stopper on its inside end; and a width-adjustable panel cooperating with said slitted holders in order to adjust the width of said juncture, opposite side portions of said width -adjustable panel being movably received in said guide slits of the holders, while opposite side edges of said width-adjustable panel having respective stop flanges, said stop flanges of the panel being selectively brought into contact with the stoppers of the slitted holders when the holders are fully pulled in opposite directions relative to the panel.

5. The bookstand according to claim 1, wherein said propping means comprises: an openable rectangular supporter hinged to the back surface of each panel so as to be rotatable relative to each panel within a predetermined angle, said supporter having several pairs of stoppers; and a rectangular prop hinged to the back surface of each panel at a position above a hinged joint of said supporter, free end corners of said rectangular prop being provided with respective protrusions, said protrusions of the prop being selectively caught by either pair of stoppers in said supporter in order to prop said bookstand at a leaning position.

6. The bookstand according to claim 5, further comprising: spring means for biasing the hinged joint of said openable supporter in order to elastically return the supporter in an open position to a fully closed position on the back surface of each back panel when said prop is removed from the supporter.

7. The bookstand according to claim 6, wherein said spring means comprises a plate spring held by both the supporter and each panel on its opposite end portions.

8. The bookstand according to claim 1, wherein said rack means comprises; at least one rack horizontally arranged on the lower portion of each back panel, the racks of the respective back panels being arranged in order to be overlapped with each other and thereby to be prevented from interfering with each other when the two back panels are closed.

9. The bookstand according to claim 1, wherein said page-holding means comprises: a horizontal guide rail formed on the front surface of each back panel at a position under the rack means; a slider movably received in said guide rail; an elastic page-holding arm coupled to said slider by a fitting part and holding an open page of said book by a page-holding part, said arm being bent in order to pass over the rack means without causing any interference between them and extending up to said holding part positioned above the rack means.

10. The bookstand according to claim 9, wherein said slider is provided with a fitting hole for receiving the fitting part of the page-holding arm and has a snap hole on its top wall, said fitting hole being grooved on its bottom wall in order to form a plurality of stop grooves; and said fitting part of the page-holding arm is grooved on its bottom wall in order to form a plurality of stop grooves, said stop grooves of the fitting part detachably engaging with the stop grooves of the slider in order to adjust an inserted depth of the fitting part in the slider as desired, said fitting part also having a snap hook selectively snapping into said snap hole of the slider thereby preventing the page-holding arm from being unexpectedly removed from the slider.

11. The bookstand according to claim 9, wherein the tip of said page-holding part of the arm is bent in order to slightly come off the open page thus allowing another page to be smoothly inserted into the nip under the page-holding part.

12. The bookstand according to claim 1, further comprising: buckling means for selectively closing the back panels in order to prevent the bookstand from being unexpectedly opened while the bookstand is used as a carrying case, said buckling means being provided on the back surfaces of said back panels.

13. The bookstand according to claim 12, wherein said buckling means comprises: a strap holder mounted on the back surface of each panel at a position around the outside edge of each panel, said strap holder having a grooved fitting hole and a snap hole, said fitting hole axially extending inside the strap holder; and male and female buckling straps coupled to the strap holders mounted on the respective back panels, each of said straps being provided with a plurality of stop grooves on one side thereof, said stop grooves of each strap detachably engaging with the grooves of an associated strap holder thus allowing the length of each strap extending from the strap holder to be adjusted as desired, said straps also having respective snap hooks selectively snapping into the snap holes of the respective strap holders thus preventing an unexpected separation of the straps from the strap holders, the tip of said female strap having a hook slot, while the tip of the male strap having a hook selectively hooked into said hook slot of the female strap.