Patent Grant
10493787
This disclosure generally relates to books and book covers.
Books may generally comprise sheets of paper between a cover and connected by a binding mechanism. Book covers may comprise rigid or flexible, natural and/or synthetic materials. Books, including notebooks, may be convenient for writing and reading. However, books may be difficult to write or read on in a space room or in a space without appropriate lighting. Therefore, different books and book covers that deal with this issue are desirable.
The present disclosure provides a book and book cover that includes a lightpaper. A lightpaper sheet may be attached to the book cover and foldable so as to be pivotable about an axis along the edge of the book cover. For example, the sheet of lightpaper may be flexible so as to be pivotable about the axis along the attachment between the sheet of lightpaper and the edge of the book cover. This way, the lightpaper sheet that forms part of the book assembly may be inserted behind a page of the book. The lightpaper sheet, when inserted behind a page and lit may provide light through the page for a user to read or write on the page even in a dark room or in a room without otherwise appropriate lighting.
These and further features of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the description and drawings, particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail as being indicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limited correspondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the terms of the appended claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on, that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
In one embodiment, the book cover 3 may be provided without pages and the pages 9 may be added in the form of a book or notebook that attaches to the book cover 3 to form the book assembly 1. The book cover 3 may, for example, include attachment pockets as part of the front cover 5 and the back cover 7. Front and back covers of the attached book may be inserted in the front and back pockets of the book cover 3 to attach the book to the book cover 3 and form the book assembly 1. This way, when such a book has been read completely, the book may be detached from the book cover 3 and the book cover 3 reused on a different book or notebook. In another embodiment, the pages 9 may be loose pages and the book cover 3 may include openable rings or other mechanism to hold and release the pages 9. This way, when such pages 9 have all been used, the pages may be detached from the book cover 3 and the book cover 3 reused by adding new loose pages.
As best shown in
The lightpaper sheet 11 may be attached to the book cover 3 and foldable so as to be pivotable about an axis along the edge of the book cover. For example, as shown in
The lightpaper assembly 10 of the book cover 3 may also include a battery holder 12 electrically connected to the sheet of lightpaper 11 to hold batteries (e.g., AA, AAA, etc.) that power the lightpaper sheet 11. The battery holder 12 may be disposed between the sheet of lightpaper 11 and the edge of the book cover 3 to which the lightpaper sheet 11 connects. This way, the sheet of lightpaper 11 may be operably attached to the edge of the book cover 3 by the battery holder 12. The battery holder 12 may also include an on-off switch 14 operably connected to the sheet of lightpaper 11 and the batteries to control on-off of the sheet of lightpaper 11. The battery holder 12 may also include a charger outlet 16 (e.g., USB, MicroUSB, etc.) to charge the batteries in the battery holder 10.
In the illustrated embodiment, the battery holder 12 is shown disposed between the sheet of lightpaper 11 and the edge of the book cover 3 to which the lightpaper sheet 11 connects (i.e., the lightpaper assembly 10 is attached to the side edge of the book cover 3). In other embodiments, the battery holder 12 may be disposed in the spine 8, the front cover 5, or the back cover 7 of the book assembly 1.
In one embodiment, the lightpaper assembly 10 may include the lightpaper sheet 11 and the battery holder 12, and not be part of the book cover 3. The lightpaper assembly 10 may be used to insert the lightpaper sheet 11 behind a page of a book to provide light to the page as described above. The lightpaper assembly 10 may also include means (e.g., clips, elastic band, etc.) for attaching to the front or back cover of a book. This way, the lightpaper sheet 11 may be inserted behind a page of a book to provide light to the page as described above.
While example systems, methods, and so on, have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on, described herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, and illustrative examples shown or described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
To the extent that the terms “in” or “into” are used in the specification or the claims, it is intended to additionally mean “on” or “onto.” Furthermore, to the extent the terms “connect” or “attach” are used in the specification or claims, it is intended to mean not only “directly connected to” or “directly attached to” but also “indirectly connected to” “indirectly attached to” such as connected through another component or components. An “operable connection,” or a connection by which entities are “operably connected” or “operably attached” is one by which the operably connected entities or the operable connection perform its intended purpose. For example, two entities may be operably connected to each other directly or through one or more intermediate entities.
To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the detailed description or claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (3D. Ed. 1995).
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 62501163 | May 2017 | US |
