Claims
- 1. A system for holding and displaying substantially planar articles, comprising:
(a) a main body formed from a single sheet of material having a front or viewing side and a back or hidden side, said main body comprising:
(1) a frame region running substantially around the outward periphery of said viewing side, (2) a substantially planar mat region lying within the periphery of said frame region and countersunk into said frame region, (3) at least one viewing aperture through the plane of said mat region and lying within the periphery of said mat region, (4) an article holding recess behind said viewing aperture, (5) a substantially planar backing area within and at the back of said article holding recess, (b) a substantially planar and transparent sheet forming a cover of the same size or smaller than said mat region, but larger than said article holding recess; (c) cover fixing means for fixing said transparent cover in a substantially planar disposition against said mat region; (d) article retaining means for retaining said article in a substantially planar position such that its viewing side is visible within said viewing aperture; whereby a frame system of minimal cost and complexity yet substantial functional and aesthetic appeal may be achieved.
- 2. A frame system for holding one or more substantially planar display articles, comprising:
(a) at least one display article of a predetermined size and thickness having a front or viewing side and back or hidden side; (b) a main body having a front or viewing side and a hidden or back side, said main body comprising:
a frame region running substantially around the outward periphery of said viewing side, a substantially planar mat region lying within said frame region, at least one viewing aperture through the plane of said mat region and lying within its periphery; (c) a substantially planar and transparent sheet forming a cover of the same size or smaller than said mat region, but larger than the viewing aperture or apertures; (d) cover fixing means for fixing said transparent cover in a substantially planar disposition against said mat region; (e) article retaining means for retaining said article in a substantially planar fashion such that its viewing side is visible within said viewing aperture; whereby a frame system of minimal cost and complexity yet considerable functional and aesthetic appeal may be achieved.
- 3. The system of claim 2, wherein said main body is entirely formed from a single sheet of material, whereby further savings in cost and complexity may be achieved.
- 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said mat region is substantially countersunk into said frame region, whereby the edges of said cover are hidden and protected.
- 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said viewing aperture is an aperture into an article holding recess with a substantially planar backing area, said recess countersunk into said mat region and integrally formed from the same single sheet as said main body.
- 6. The system of claim 1, wherein a back access opening is provided in said article holding recess, said opening at least large enough to allow said display article to be inserted into and retained by the article holding recess such that the desired portion of said article's viewing side is visible through said viewing aperture.
- 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said planar transparent cover is flexible and said cover fixing means only permanently fixes a portion of the planar contact area between said mat region and said cover, such that said cover may be flexed open sufficiently to insert or remove said article.
- 8. The system of claim 7, wherein some portion of said backing area is coated with an adhesive.
- 9. The system of claim 1, wherein said planar transparent cover is flexible and said cover fixing means comprises:
(a) a permanent adhesive along only a portion of said contact area, such that said cover may be flexed open sufficiently to insert or remove said article; and (b) a restickable adhesive along at least a remainder of the portion of said contact area, such that said cover may be held flat and retained sufficiently to prevent said article from slipping out of said article holding recess.
- 10. The system of claim 9, wherein a removable label insert is provided in said article-holding recess, said insert formed with a pull tab projecting sufficiently out from underneath said cover such that said tab may be readily seen and grasped.
- 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the back side of said backing area is wholly or partly covered with an adhesive, whereby the frame system may be applied to any acceptable planar substrate, such as a wall, fridge, window, cabinet or the like.
- 12. The system of claim 1, further including a flap of planar material suitable for writing on integrally formed with said main body, creating a greeting card portion which can be folded back against said hidden side of said main body.
- 13. The system of claim 1, further including at least one flap of material integrally formed with said main body and means to fix said flap against on a wall.
- 14. The system of claim 1, further including at least one standing leg integrally formed with said main body.
- 15. The system of claim 13, wherein said flap also doubles as a standing leg.
- 16. The system of claim 14, wherein two such legs are provided and further include interlocking means to keep both said legs folded substantially flat against said main body.
- 17. A method for holding and displaying substantially planar articles, comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a main body from a single sheet of material having a front or viewing side and a back or hidden side, forming said main body comprising the steps of:
(1) forming a frame region running substantially around the outward periphery of said viewing side, (2) forming a substantially planar mat region lying within the periphery of said frame region and countersunk into said frame region, (3) forming at least one viewing aperture through the plane of said mat region and lying within the periphery of said mat region, (4) forming an article holding recess behind said viewing aperture (5) forming within and at the back of said article holding recess a substantially planar backing area, (b) providing a substantially planar and transparent sheet to serve as a cover of the same size or smaller than said mat region, but larger than said article holding recess; (c) providing cover fixing means for fixing said transparent cover in a substantially planar disposition against said mat region; (d) providing article retaining means for retaining said article in a substantially planar position such that its viewing side is visible within said viewing aperture; whereby a frame system of minimal cost and complexity yet considerable functional and aesthetic appeal may be achieved.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the said step of providing a planar transparent cover further entails ensuring that said cover is flexible and wherein the step of providing said cover fixing means further comprises the steps of:
(a) applying a permanent adhesive along only a portion of said contact area, such that said cover may be flexed open sufficiently to insert or remove said article; and (b) applying a restickable adhesive along at least a remainder of the portion of said contact area, such that said cover may be held flat and retained sufficiently to prevent said article from slipping out of said article holding recess.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of forming a backing area further entails coating some portion of said backing area with an adhesive.
- 20. The method of claim 19, adding the step of integrally forming at least one standing leg when forming said main body.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of PPA Ser. No. 60/221,077, filed 2000 Jul. 27th by the present inventor and entitled PAPER FRAME.
[0002] This application is a continuation of Regular patent application Ser. No. 09/924,180, filed 2001 Jul. 27th by the present inventor and entitled PAPER FRAME.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09924180 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Child |
10357543 |
Feb 2003 |
US |