Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6186551
-
Patent Number
6,186,551
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, October 12, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, February 13, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Wellington; A. L.
- Carter; Monica S.
Agents
- Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 281 33
- 281 151
- 281 37
- 281 29
- 281 36
- 281 211
- 402 73
- 402 80 R
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A book stiffener of a type having a relatively flat, thin, elongated, rigid rotatable-strip (32) attached by a swivel mechanism (34, 108) to an outside surface of a book cover, also includes an indexing mechanism between the rotatable strip and the book cover for holding the rotatable strip in predetermined angular index positions relative to the book cover. The index positions include a stiffening position in which the rotatable strip extends across hinge seams (24, 26) of front and rear flap covers (18, 20) of the book cover, and a disabled position in which the rotatable strip extends more nearly parallel with a back binding (22) of the book cover so as not to substantially extend across the hinge seams. The indexing mechanism includes protrusions (102, 122) on one of the book cover and the rotatable strip and indentations (104, 124) on the other of the book cover and the rotatable strip, with a protrusion resiliently snapping into an indentation at the index positions.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the art of books and more specifically, to books having mechanisms mounted thereon for stiffening them when they are placed in open configurations. In a sense, this invention relates to the art of lap desks.
A difficulty many people have when using books, especially lose-leaf notebooks, is that front and back flap covers of the books usually rotate freely about hinge seams so that such books are cumbersome when held open in a lap. Similarly, it often occurs that loose-leaf notebooks, when open, extend laterally beyond small work surfaces of desks used in many schools so that front and rear flaps thereof rotate downwardly, offering little or no support for loose-leaf papers in the notebooks. When one works with a loose-leaf notebook on his lap or at a small desk, rear and front flat covers provide little or no support but rather rotate easily about hinge seams beyond a common plane in which they are approximately parallel one with the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,136 to McIntire discloses a book stiffener for preventing front and rear flap covers from rotating substantially beyond a common plane in which they are approximately parallel with one another. This book stiffener basically includes an elongated, rigid, rotatable strip attached to an outside surface of the book cover by a swivel attachment which allows the rotatable strip to rotate between a stiffening position in which it extends across hinge seams of front and rear flap covers for preventing the front and rear flap covers from rotating substantially beyond the common plane and a disabled position in which it extends more nearly parallel with a back binding so that it does not extend across the hinge seams. Although this book stiffener has proven to be useful, it has the problem that the rotatable strip tends to rotate when it should not. This makes the book stiffener awkward to use and negates some of the usefulness of the book stiffener.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a book stiffener of the type disclosed by McIntire in U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,136, but which has stable fixed positions of its rotatable strip, and yet its rotatable strip can be easily rotated when desired between the stiffening and disabled positions.
Similarly, it is an object of this invention to provide such a book stiffener which is inexpensive to construct, easy to mount on a book and uncomplicated to use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to principles of this invention, a book stiffener of a type involving a relatively flat, thin, elongated, rigid rotatable strip attached by a swivel mechanism to an outside surface of a book cover, also includes an indexing mechanism between the rotatable strip and the book cover for holding the rotatable strip in predetermined angular index positions relative to the book cover. The index positions include a stiffening position in which the rotatable strip extends across hinge seams of front and rear flap covers of the book cover so that the flap covers are prevented from being opened beyond a plane, and a disabled position in which the rotatable strip extends more nearly parallel with a back binding of the book cover so as not to substantially extend across the hinge seams. The indexing mechanism includes a protruding member on one of the book cover and the rotatable strip and an indentation on the other of the book cover and the rotatable strip, with a protruding member snapping into an indentation at the index positions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The invention is described and explained in more detail below using the embodiments shown in the drawings. The described and drawn features can be used individually or in preferred combinations in other embodiments of the invention. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the invention in a clear manner.
FIG. 1
is an exploded isometric view of a loose-leaf notebook with a first-embodiment book stiffener of this invention;
FIG. 2
is an isometric rear view of the structure of
FIG. 1
with the book stiffener being attached to the notebook and being in a stiffening position;
FIG. 3
is a top end view of the structure of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 4
is an alternate embodiment of the structure of
FIGS. 1 and 2
, with the book stiffener being mounted at a different location on the book;
FIG. 5
is a top end view of an alternate embodiment of this invention in which a rotatable strip of a book stiffener is rotatably mounted directly to a back binding of a lose-leaf notebook;
FIG. 6
is an exploded sectional view o f a swivel attachment including an indexing mechanism of this invention, along with fragmented portions of a rotatable strip and a notebook back binding;
FIG. 7
is a bottom (inside) plan view of an indexing female clasp of the swivel attachment of
FIG. 6
; and
FIG. 8
is an isometric, exploded, cutaway view of another swivel attachment along with a rotatable strip and a notebook back binding but with the swivel attachment not being part of the indexing mechanism of this invention, rather the indexing mechanism being on the notebook back binding and the rotatable strip.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A stiffened book assembly
10
of
FIG. 1
comprises a loose-leaf notebook
12
and a book stiffener mechanism
14
.
The loose-leaf notebook
12
has a cover
16
which includes a front flap cover
18
, a rear flap cover
20
and an elongated back binding
22
. The back binding
22
is respectively attached to the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
at hinge seams
26
and
24
which allow the respective front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
to pivot thereabout relative to the back binding
22
, approximately 180 degrees from the positions shown in FIG.
1
. Thus, when a user thereof opens the lose-leaf notebook
12
on his or her lap or on a small desk in order to write on papers
27
clipped to openable rings
28
, the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
provide little support therefor, flopping to positions rotated far beyond a plane of the back binding
22
.
The book stiffener mechanism
14
shown in
FIGS. 1-4
comprises a relatively flat, thin, elongated, rigid, mounting strip
30
; a relatively flat, thin, elongated, rigid, rotatable strip
32
; and a swivel attachment
34
which, in a preferred embodiment, includes a rivet, or pin having a shaft passing through coincident holes
36
located approximately at midpoints of the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
. In this regard, once the rivet
34
is passed through the holes
36
, an end thereof is flattened, or a retainer is placed on the end, so as to cooperate with an opposite-end head for holding the strips together while allowing them to rotate about the rivet, or pin, relative to one another in approximately parallel planes. In one embodiment, the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
are equal in width and length, however, this is not necessary for proper functioning of this invention. In another embodiment, the length of the mounting strip
30
is only a small fraction of that of the rotatable strip. The lengths
38
of the strips
30
,
32
should be less than a height
40
of the cover
16
. Further, if it is intended to mount the book stiffener mechanism
14
on the back binding
22
, as is depicted in
FIG. 2
, it is helpful if the mounting and rotatable strips
30
,
32
have a width
42
which is less than a width
44
of the back binding
22
. It is also helpful if the rotatable strip
32
has a length
38
which is less than a total width
46
of the lose-leaf notebook
12
when it is in an open configuration, as is shown in FIG.
2
.
The mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
can be constructed of the same material or different materials. Some materials which have been used include wood and rigid resinous plastics such as acrylics. Metal will also work. In one embodiment, both the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
are 11 inches in length and 1 ½ inches in width. Also, in one embodiment these members together are {fraction (3/16)} inch thick, with the mounting strip
30
being {fraction (1/16)} inch thick and the rotatable strip
32
being {fraction (2/16)} inch thick.
In
FIG. 1
, an adhesive surface
48
of the mounting strip
30
, which is facing away from the rotatable strip
32
, has a pressure sensitive, self-adhering adhesive
50
thereon which, prior to use of the book stiffener mechanism
14
, is covered by an adhesive disabling cover
52
. It should be understood that an adhesive attachment is disclosed as one possible attachment, but that there are many other possibilities. In some cases, adhesive attachments have been insufficiently strong, Thus, rivet and other attachments have been necessary.
All of the structure described above was also basically described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,136 to McIntire. However, the invention of this application adds to this structure an indexing mechanism shown in FIG.
2
. This indexing mechanism includes protrusions
102
a,b
on the mounting strip
30
and indentations
104
a,b,c
on the rotatable strip
32
. The protrusions
102
a,b
and the indentations
104
a,b,c
are respectively on side surfaces of the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
which face one another when these members are held together by the swivel attachment
34
and they are also aligned with one another so that the rotatable strip can be rotated to angular positions in which the protrusions
102
a,b
resiliently snap into the indentations
104
a,b,c.
In the embodiment depicted in
FIG. 2
, this resiliency is provided by the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
themselves, the protrusions
102
and the indentations
104
being spaced from the swivel attachment
34
. The indentations
104
can be holes passing completely through the rotatable strip
32
.
In the stiffening, second-index, position of the rotatable strip
32
shown in
FIG. 2
, the protrusions
102
a
are resiliently snapped, or engaged, into the indentations
104
a.
In this stiffening position, the interlocking of the protrusions
102
a
and the indentations
104
a
hold the rotatable strip
32
at a 90 degree angle to the mounting strip
30
. However, the “hold” of this interlocking can be easily overcome by manually applying force to rotate the rotatable strip
32
so that the protrusions
102
a
disengage from the indentations
104
a.
When the mounting strip
30
and the rotatable strip
32
are align with each other, in a disabled, second-index, position, the protrusions
102
b
snap resiliently into indentations
104
b
and the protrusions
102
a
into indentations
104
c
for holding the rotatable strip
32
in this new disabled, index position. Again, the rotatable strip
32
can be moved from this index position by application of manual force.
Describing operation of the stiffened book assembly of
FIGS. 1-3
, the lose-leaf notebook
12
is constructed separately from the back stiffener mechanism
14
. In fact, these items can be sold separately and mated by a user, although they can also be mounted during manufacture of a notebook. To mount the back stiffener mechanism
14
on the cover
16
, the mounting strip
30
is rigidly attached to the back binding
22
. In the depicted arrangement, this can be done, as shown in
FIG. 1
, by removing the adhesive disabling cover
52
from the pressure-sensitive adhesive
50
on the adhesive surface
48
and pressing this surface against an outside surface of the back binding
22
so as to fixedly attach the mounting strip
30
on the back binding
22
, parallel thereto. Again, this mounting of the mounting strip can be done by rivets and other attaching mechanisms, and adhesive need not the used. Once mounted, the rotatable strip
32
can be rotated about the rivet
34
, which holds the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
together. In fact, in one embodiment, this rivet
34
is used to help attach the stiffener mechanism
14
to the back binding
22
. Rotational movement of the rotatable strip
32
can be caused between the first-index position, which is the disabled position in which the rotatable strip
32
is aligned with the mounting strip
30
as is shown in
FIG. 1
, and the second-index position, which is the stiffening position in which the rotatable strip
32
is approximately perpendicular to the mounting strip
30
as is depicted in FIG.
2
. In each of the first- and second-index positions, that is the disabled and stiffening positions, protrusions
102
of the mounting strip
30
are snapped into indentations
104
of the rotatable strip
32
for holding the rotatable strip
32
in these first- and second-index positions unless a sufficiently great force is applied to the rotatable strip
32
to overcome the interlocking of the protrusions and indentations. Between the first- and second-index positions the rotatable strip
32
can be rotated with substantially less force than is required to dislodge the protrusions from the indentations.
As can be seen in
FIG. 3
, when the rotatable strip
32
is snapped into the second-index, stiffening, position, rear surfaces of the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
impinge upon outer tips of the rotatable strip
32
to be held in a fully open position in which they lie approximately in a common plane with each other and also with the back binding
22
. In this respect, it can be seen in
FIG. 3
that the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
and the back binding
22
do not lie exactly in the same plane because of the geometry of the various parts, however, they do lie in planes quite close to one another. In this second-index, stiffening, position, the rotatable strip
32
extends across the hinge seams
26
and
24
to thereby impinge upon the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
when they are opened to prevent them from being opened substantially beyond a plane of the rotatable strip
32
, which is quite close to a common plane in which the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
and the back binding
22
lie. When it is desired to close the notebook
12
for storing or transporting it, the rotatable strip
32
is rotated to the first-index, disabled, position shown in
FIG. 1
in which it is aligned with the mounting strip
30
and the back binding
22
and does not extend beyond the hinge seams
24
and
26
nor end edges of the back binding
22
. In other words, it is fully out-of-the-way.
Another embodiment similar to the
FIGS. 1-3
embodiment is depicted in
FIG. 4
in which the mounting strip
30
is not mounted on the back binding
22
, but rather, is mounted on a rear surface of the front flap cover
18
. It can be seen in
FIG. 4
that in this configuration the rotatable strip
32
can still be rotated to extend across the hinge seams
24
and
26
so as to impinge on rear surfaces of the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
for stabilizing or stiffening the flap covers in attitudes in which they are approximately in a common plane. Again, the indexing protrusions
102
on the mounting strip
30
cooperate with indexing indentations on the rotatable strip
32
which cannot be seen in FIG.
4
. It should be understood that the mounting strip
30
and rotatable strip
32
shown in
FIG. 4
have the same indexing protrusions and indentations as are shown for these two members in FIG.
2
. Further, as has already been noted, such indexing protrusions and indentations can have various arrangements in addition to those depicted in
FIGS. 2 and 4
and can be interchanged between the mounting and rotatable strips
30
and
32
. Again, in this embodiment the stiffener mechanism
14
can be attached to the notebook in a factory.
In the embodiment of
FIG. 5
, the rotatable strip
32
is mounted directly to the back binding
22
by means of a rivet
34
rather than being attached to the mounting strip
30
which is, in turn, attached to the back binding
22
. It has been found that this embodiment of the invention appears to work best. In this embodiment, a stiffened book assembly
10
is constructed at a factory, with the book stiffener mechanism
14
not being sold separately from the cover
16
. Otherwise, the rotatable strip
32
of FIG.
5
functions in the same manner as it functions in the
FIGS. 1-3
embodiment, with the exception that it tends to stiffen the front and rear flap covers
18
and
20
yet nearer to a common plane because a thickness dimension of the mounting strip
30
is not between the back binding
22
and the rotatable strip
32
. Another difference is that in this embodiment indexing protrusions and indentations cannot normally be made directly in the book cover
18
,
20
, and
22
because the book cover is normally not made of a sufficiently hard material. Thus, in one such embodiment, the indexing mechanism can be included as part of a swivel attachment
106
as is depicted in FIG.
6
.
Looking more particularly at the swivel attachment of
FIG. 6
, it includes a pivot pin
108
, a washer
110
, a female clasp
112
, a male clasp
114
, and a retainer
116
. The pivot pin
108
passes through concentric bores in the washer
110
, the back binding
22
of the book cover, the female clasp
112
, the male clasp
114
, the rotatable strip
32
, and the retainer
116
. The bore of the retainer
116
is shaped to have tabs which lock on the end of the pin
108
and thereby retain the washer
110
, the back binding
22
, the female clasp
112
, the male clasp
114
, and the rotatable strip
32
clamped between the retainer
116
and a head
118
of the pivot pin
108
. As can be seen in
FIG. 6
, the female clasp
112
is stamped to have indexing indentations
104
therein while the male clasp
114
is stamped to have indexing protrusions
102
which are positioned for snapping into the indexing indentations
104
of the female clasp
112
. It is noted that each of the female and male clasps
112
and
114
includes barbs
120
thereon for respectively digging into the back binding
22
and the rotatable strip
32
so as to prevent relative movement between the female clasp
112
and the back binding
22
and the male clasp
114
and the rotatable strip
32
. Again, it should be understood that the rotatable strip
32
could be mounted on the book cover by the swivel attachment at different places (see FIG.
4
). The pivot pin
108
can be inserted from either direction.
FIG. 8
also discloses an embodiment in which the rotatable strip
32
is mounted directly on a back binding
22
by a pivot pin
108
, a retainer
116
and a washer
110
, but in this case there are no male and female clasps
114
,
112
. In this embodiment, separate spring loaded ball bearings
22
are mounted on the back binding
22
to serve as protrusions. These ball bearings
122
are positioned to engage in indexing indentations
124
in the rotatable strip
32
. Again, it should be understood that these spring loaded ball bearings
122
could be positioned almost anywhere on the book cover so long as the rotatable strip
32
is correspondingly mounted so that its indentations
124
snap onto the ball bearings
122
. Also, other types of protrusions could be used for indexing. Further, indentations can be provided by separate elements mounted on the rotatable strip
32
of course, the indexing protrusions and indentations can be reversed, with the indexing indentations being mounted on the book cover.
It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the book stiffener mechanism, with the indexing mechanism, of this invention, in all embodiments, are uncomplicated and inexpensive to manufacture but yet provide an extremely useful function of stiffening a lose-leaf notebook, or other book, so that the book can virtually be used as a lap desk. The indexing mechanism ensures that the rotatable strip
32
does not inadvertently move from the stiffening and disabled positions when it is placed in those positions, so that the rotatable strip
32
does not become a nuisance.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the indexing protrusions and indentations can be formed and arranged in many different ways. Further, the mounting strip can be a very small member and need not be elongated. Also, the indexing mechanism of this invention can provide index positions other than those described above.
Claims
- 1. A book stiffener to be attached to a book cover having front and rear flap covers and an elongated back binding for stiffening the book when it is in an open configuration, said book stiffener comprising:a relatively flat, thin, mounting strip and an attachment member for fixedly attaching said mounting strip to an outside surface of the book cover in a first plane, said mounting strip having a length which is not substantially greater than a height of said book cover; an elongated, rigid, rotatable strip having a length dimension greater than a width of said back binding of said book for being positioned in a second plane, immediately adjacent to and parallel with said first plane; a swivel attachment for attaching said rotatable strip to said mounting strip so as to allow rotation of said rotatable strip in said second plane relative to said mounting strip; wherein is further included an indexing mechanism between said mounting strip and said rotatable strip for holding said rotatable strip in at least one predetermined, angular, index position relative to said mounting strip; wherein the indexing mechanism comprises a protruding member on a first one of said mounting and rotatable strips, and an indentation on a second one of said mounting and rotatable strips, with said protruding member sliding against said second one of said mounting and rotatable strips before said protruding member reaches said indentation and then snapping into said indentation at said index position; whereby said mounting strip includes means for attaching it to a rear surface of said book cover and said rotatable strip can be rotated to a stiffening position in which it extends across hinge seams of said front and rear flap covers with said back binding to thereby impinge upon the front and rear flap covers to prevent them from being opened substantially beyond a plane of said rotatable strip and to a disabled position in which it extends more nearly parallel with said back binding so it does not substantially extend across hinge seams between said front and rear flap covers.
- 2. The book stiffener of claim 1 wherein said index position is said stiffening position.
- 3. The book stiffener of claim 1 wherein said index position is said disabled position.
- 4. The book stiffener of claim 1 wherein said indexing mechanism is for holding said rotatable strip in predetermined, angular, first- and second-index positions relative to said mounting strip, said first-index position being said stiffening position and said second-index position being said disabled position.
- 5. A selectively stiffened book comprising:a book cover having front and rear flap covers respectively attached to opposite sides of an elongated back binding at hinge seams, said front an rear flap covers being rotatable to positions in which they are almost in a common plane with each other and with the book binding; a book stiffener mechanism comprising an elongated, rigid, rotatable strip having a length dimension substantially greater than a width of said back binding of said book, said book stiffener mechanism comprising a swivel attachment for attaching said rotatable strip to a rear surface of said book cover with said rear surface lying in a first plane and said rotatable strip ling in a second plane immediately adjacent to and parallel with said first plane so as to allow rotation of said rotatable strip in said second plane relative to said rear surface such that said rotatable strip is rotatable to a stiffening position in which it extends across hinge seams to thereby impinge upon the front and rear flap covers when they are opened to prevent them from being opened substantially beyond said common plane and to a disabled position in which it extends more nearly parallel with said back binding so as not to substantially extend across said hinge seams; wherein is further included an indexing mechanism between said mounting strip and said book cover for holding said rotatable strip in a predetermined, angular, index position relative to said book cover; wherein the indexing mechanism comprises a protruding member on a first one of said rotatable strip and said book cover, and an indentation on a second one of said rotatable strip and said book cover, with said protruding member sliding against said second one at said mounting and rotatable strips before said protruding member reaches said indentation and then snapping into said indentation at said index position.
- 6. The book stiffener of claim 5 wherein said index position is said stiffening position.
- 7. The book stiffener of claim 5 wherein said index position is said disabled position.
- 8. The book stiffener of claim 5 wherein said indexing mechanism is for holding said rotatable strip in predetermined, angular, first- and second-index positions relative to said book cover, said first-index position being said stiffening position and said second-index position being said disabled position.
- 9. The book stiffener of claim 5 wherein the indexing mechanism comprises a plurality of protruding members on one of said rotatable strip and said book cover, and a plurality of indentations on the other of said rotatable strip and said book cover, with protruding members snapping into indentations at said index position.
US Referenced Citations (4)