Patent Application
20140239626
Bookmarks are typically made from materials such as paper stock, plastic, leather, fabric, or the like, and are used to mark the place where a reader left off reading prior to putting a book down for a period of time. Thus, upon returning to the book, the reader can then pick up the story or information at the same location with ease. There are a few types of bookmarks that are generally used. The most common is the detached bookmark that is simply placed in the book and removed when not in use. Others include attached bookmarks that are generally bound to the spine of the book. An example of this is a ribbon bookmark that may be attached to the spine of a bible or other book, providing a convenient bookmark that is never separated from the book. A third type of bookmark is the detachable bookmark, which can be attached and detached from a book, providing some of the benefits of both attached and detached bookmarking systems.
The present disclosure is drawn to a bookmark for an open spine book, comprising a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book; a paginator; and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp.
In another example, a method of temporarily marking a page in an open spine book can comprise steps of obtaining a bookmark and marking a page in the open spine book using the bookmark. The bookmark can include a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book, a paginator, and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp. In use, the step of attaching the clasp to a thin spine structure of the open spine book, and marking the page using the paginator that is tethered to the open spine book can be carried out.
In another example, a system for temporarily marking a page in an open spine book can comprise a bookmark and an open spine book. The bookmark can include a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book, a paginator, and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp. The open spine book can include an open spine suitable for receiving and holding in place the clasp.
Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example, features of the invention; and, wherein:
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles of the disclosures as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only. The terms are not intended to be limiting unless specified as such.
The singular forms “a,” “an,” and, “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a tether” includes reference to one or more of such tethers, and reference to “the bookmark” includes reference to one or more of such bookmarks.
As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary.
Numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
In accordance with these definitions and embodiments of the present disclosure, a discussion of the various devices, systems, and methods is provided including details associated therewith. This being said, it should be noted that various embodiments will be discussed as they relate to the devices, systems, and methods. Regardless of the context of the specific details as they are discussed for any one of these embodiments, it is understood that such discussion relates to other all other embodiments as well.
The present disclosure is drawn to a bookmark for an open spine book, comprising a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book; a paginator; and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp. In one specific example, the bookmark further comprises a second paginator attached to the clasp by a second tether.
In another example, a method of temporarily marking a page in an open spine book can comprise obtaining a bookmark including a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book, a paginator, and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp. Additional steps can include attaching the clasp to a spine structure of the open spine book, and marking a page in the open spine book using the paginator that is tethered to the open spine book. In one specific example, the bookmark further comprises a second paginator attached to the clasp by a second tether, and the method includes marking a second page in the open spine book using the second paginator.
In another example, a system for temporarily marking a page in an open spine book can comprise a bookmark and an open spine book. The bookmark can include a clasp adapted to removably attach to a thin spine structure of the open spine book, a paginator, and a tether attaching the paginator to the clasp. The open spine book can include an open spine suitable for receiving and holding in place the clasp. In one specific example, the bookmark further comprises a second paginator attached to the clasp by a second tether.
Turning now to the FIGS., additional detail is shown and described therein. For example,
The clasp 10 can be any of a number of clasping devices that can be opened and closed on so as to attach to a thin spiral, comb, coil, looseleaf ring, tube, twin loop, etc. In the example shown in
In another aspect, the tether 20 can be formed using any of a number of materials. To illustrate, the tether can comprise a metal wire, a fabric strip, a ribbon, a string, a cord, leather, synthetic leather or vinyl, plastic, rubber, combinations of these materials, etc. In one example a thin wire might be used with a plastic or rubber tube positioned about the wire to protect the wire from breaking. Alternatively, a strip of leather might be used with a ribbon to provide an aesthetic look to the tether structure.
The tether 20 can be fastened to either the clasp 10 or the paginator 30 by any technique known in the art, such as by hand tying, machine tying, sewing, braiding, gluing, riveting, tacking, buttoning, snapping, clipping, clasping, crimping, etc. In one specific example, a thin flexible wire 20 can be looped through the eyelet 16 on the clasp 10, or through a hole 32 on the paginator 30, and the wire crimped on itself using a crimp 24 and a crimping tool (not shown). Additionally, as mentioned, the thin flexible wire may be surrounded along a portion or all of its length by a protective tube 26, which can be made of any material that provides the flexibility desired for a specific embodiment. For example, the protective tube might be prepared from metal, plastic, rubber, paper, fabric, or the like. In one example, the protective tube can be a soft rubber or plastic. Likewise, the paginator, which typically has a flat configuration, can be prepared from any of a number of materials, including metal, plastic, rubber, paper, fabric, wood, etc., and can have any practical shape, including rectangular as shown, or any other geometric shape imaginable, e.g., 2-D representations of other shapes or even objects (cars, instruments, people, interests, etc.).
The length of the tether 20 can be such that it can easily be used to maneuver the paginator 30 around the top (or bottom if attached near the bottom) of the book and reposition the paginator at a different page, without removing the clasp. For example, the tether can have a length ranging from ½ inch to 5 inches, and the paginator can likewise have a length from ½ inch to 5 inches, though these lengths are not intended to be particularly limiting. In one example, the length of the tether and the length of the paginator can be prepared at a ratio from 2:1 to 1:2, and in another example, the ration can be about 1:1 (e.g., 20% of 1:1).
Turning now to
Turning now to
Also shown in
Of course, it is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present disclosure. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present disclosure has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical embodiments of the disclosure, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.
