The present invention relates to a device for easily and stably securing sheet materials such as paper sheets, documents, posters, etc. to a backing surface. More particularly, the present invention pertains to such a device in the form of a support member which may be fastened flush against the backing surface and includes a projection which may be easily manipulated for clamping sheet materials between the support member and the backing surface.
There are many known devices for easily and stably securing sheet materials such as paper sheets, documents, posters, etc. to a planar backing surface. These include the devices disclosed in the following US Patents and US Patent Application Publications:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,848A: Holder device for suspending articles such as paper and the like;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,231,883A: Holder for articles;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,362B1: Paper holder;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,075A: Mounting Strip;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,110A: Adjustable signage system;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,602,341A: Sheet Supporting Device;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,821A: Bulletin sheet holder and support;
U.S. Pat. No. 1,759,781A: Price tag or sign holder;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,127A Holder Bar for Flexible Sheet-Like Articles; and
US 2016/0107474A1: Sheet holder.
While the known devices are suitable for their intended functions, they still remain to be improved upon. For example, the device in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,848 is relatively complicated, including a number of balls which are slidably retained within a retainer in a series arrangement with each other, while the retainer may be attached to a surface to define a gap between a lower portion of the retainer and the surface so that the upper portion of one or more thin sheets or the like may be pushed upward through gap and the balls will secure-clamp the upper portion(s) of the sheets against the surface by force of gravity. Also, this device obstructs a relatively large upper portion of the thin sheet(s) which are gripped by the balls of the device. Other know devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,530,821, 4,105,127 and 4,629,075 include some type of spring to grip or clamp a portion of a thin sheet such that the gripped portion of the sheet is spaced away from the backing surface, which is undesirable, and the springs may lose gripping ability over time.
Hence there remains a need in the art for an inexpensive, device which can easily and stably securing sheet materials such as paper sheets, documents, posters, etc. to a backing surface, while overcoming the drawbacks of the known devices.
It is an object of the invention to provide a device which satisfies the discussed need, and a method of using same.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support device for securing sheet materials to a support surface, comprising:
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the channel has a substantially uniform width along the longitudinal direction of the main body, the manipulatable member has first portion which is configured to be operatively disposed in the channel in engagement with a surface of the channel and a second portion which is configured to be manipulated by a user for moving the manipulatable member relative to the main body, and the first portion has a cam surface provided therewith which selectively engages the channel surface when the manipulatable member is moved relative to the main body to thereby move the side wall and change the width of the gap defined between the free end of the projection and the support surface.
The support device according to the first aspect and second aspects of the invention is very advantageous because it can be used for easily securing thin sheets such as notices and posters against a flat or substantially flat support surface such that the thin sheets may be observed and read by persons in the vicinity of same, and for easily releasing the thin sheets when desired. Also, it is relatively non-complicated and may be inexpensively manufactured.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the second portion of the manipulatable member extends outside of the channel when the first portion is operatively disposed in the channel, and the second portion is configured to be gripped and manipulated by a user.
The support device according to the third aspect of the invention is advantageous because it provides a simple and convenient means for selectively adjusting the width of the gap, for thereby gripping or releasing sheet materials by or from the support device.
According to a forth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the channel has a varying width along the longitudinal direction of the main body including wide and narrow portions, when the manipulateable member is connected in the channel and is moved to the narrow portion of the channel the manipulateable member pushes the side wall of the main body outward to thereby cause the width of the gap to be smaller, and when the manipulateable member is moved to the wide portion of the channel the manipulateable member does not push the side wall outward to thereby cause the width of the gap to be larger.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the side wall of the main body has a weakened portion at which the side wall flexes when the manipulateable member is moved relative to the channel.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first and fifth aspects, the channel opens upward in the top surface of the main body, the portion of the side wall to which the projection is connected is near the top surface of the main body, and the weakened portion of the side wall is near the bottom surface of the main body.
The support device according to the fifth and sixth aspects of the invention is also very advantageous because provision of the weakened portion of the side wall and the disposition of the weakened portion and the projection respectively near bottom and top surfaces of the main body facilitates the manipulations of the manipulatable member for changing the width of the gap.
Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid in understanding of the invention, this is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how it may later be disguised by variations in form or additions of further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are the chief aid toward this purpose, as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the improvements, combinations and methods in which the inventive concepts are found. There has been chosen a specific exemplary embodiment of a submersible foliage planter according to the invention and specific alternative structures and modifications thereto, the embodiment having been chosen for the purposes of illustration and description of the structure and method of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the reader is referred to the following detailed description section, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description and in the drawings, like numbers refer to like parts.
With reference to
Referring to
As depicted, the main body 1 may have a central channel 4 that extends longitudinally thereof, is open at the opposite ends of the main body and opens upward at an upper end of the main body, projections 6 provided on one side or opposite sides of the main body, and one or more openings 8 provided in a bottom surface 5 of the main body below the channel 4 and which would receive screws (not shown) or other fasteners therethrough for securing the main body to a flat support surface (not shown) such as a vertically-extending wall. Each of the projection(s) 6 may extend the full length of the main body and may project from an upper portion of the main body adjacent the open end of the channel 4 and extend laterally away from the main body at an angle such that a free end/edge of the projection extends almost to a level even with the bottom surface 5 of the main body, which is beneath the channel 4. If two of the projections 6 are provided with the main body, they may be disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of the main body any appear like wings extending from the main body as in the end view of
Due to the structure whereby the free end/edge of the projection extends almost to a level even with the bottom surface 5 of the main body, when the main body is attached to a flat or substantially flat support surface, there will be a slight gap 9 (see
Referring to
As depicted the lower portion 10 of the manipulatable member may include a cam surface 14 on one section thereof such that it is not perfectly circular in cross section, but has different widths therearound. When facing in a first direction such that the cam surface 14 extends generally in a longitudinal direction of the channel 4, the lower portion 10 of the manipulatable member 2 may have a width slightly less than that of the channel so that the lower portion 10 may be inserted into the channel 4 from either end of the main body 1, and then easily slid/moved into a desired position along the channel. Then a user may rotate the manipulatable member 2, e.g. about 90°, until the cam surface 14 generally faces in the width direction of the channel 4. In the process of rotating the member 2 the side walls of the main body 1 which define the channel 4 are pushed apart somewhat by the cam surface 14, and the projection(s) 6 connected to the upper portions of the side walls are correspondingly rotated downward such that the free end(s)/edge(s) of the projection(s) are moved toward the flat or substantially flat support surface to reduce the width of the gap 9, thereby clamping/securing the edge(s) of one or more sheets of paper or other thin sheet material between the free end/edge of the projection and the flat or substantially flat support surface. To release the edge(s) of the sheet(s) of paper or other thin sheet material, the user may simply rotate the manipulatable member 2 until that the cam surface 14 is no longer pushing the side walls of the channel 4 apart, such that the projection(s) are rotated away from the flat or substantially flat support surface to increase the width of the gap 9.
As depicted in
While it may be sufficient to use only one manipulatable member 2 in association with the main body 1, any number of the manipulatable members 2 may be used, and generally the longer the main body 1 is, a larger number of manipulatable members may be used and spaced apart along the channel 4 to achieve a better, more uniform clamping pressure along the length of the projections 6. For example, if the main member is 6-8 inches long then two of the manipulatable members 2 may be sufficient to move the projections to exert appropriate clamping pressure on paper sheets or other sheet materials, whereas if the main member is 12 or more inches long, it may be desirable to use three or more of the manipulatable members 2.
As will be understood, the support device only requires a very small portion of a sheet material including an edge to be inserted into the gap 9 between the free edge of the projection 6 and the support surface, and to be clamped against the support surface by the free edge of the projection. At most, the portion of the sheet material inserted into the gap 9 would extend from the free edge of the projection 9 to the central flat bottom surface 5 of the main member. This is advantageous as the support device will not cover any significant portion of the sheet material or any indicia printed thereon. Further, based on the structure of the support device whereby edges of the papers or other thin sheets are clamped by the support device directly against the flat or substantially flat support surface, the papers or other sheet materials secured by the support will tend to lay flat against the support surface due to gravity. Hence, only one of the support devices securing an upper edge device will lay flushly against a vertically extending flat or substantially flat support surface of a sheet material would be sufficient to properly secure a sheet material in most cases. Of course, it is always possible to use a plurality of the support devices, e.g., one at the top edge of the sheet material and a second at the bottom edge of the sheet material or on opposite side edges of the sheet material, and this may be desirable if the support surface extends other than vertically or substantially vertically.
Use of the support device according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention is fairly simple. First, the main body 1 may be secured to any desired flat or substantially flat support surface using screws or other appropriate fastener(s). Screws may be inserted into the holes 8 for such purpose, and the heads of the screws may be sunk into the bottom wall of the main body 1 so that they do not project into the channel 4 and will not interfere with movement of the manipulateable member(s) 2 as they slide along the channel. One or more of the manipulatable members 2 may be provided at appropriate locations along the channel 4 of the main body and oriented such that the cam surfaces 14 of the lower portions thereof do not push the side walls of the main body outward. Edge(s) of one or more sheet materials may then be inserted into the gap 9 between the between the free end/edge of the projection 6 and support surface, and then the manipulateable member(s) 2 may be rotated such that the cam surface(s) 14 of the bottom portion(s) thereof push the side walls of the main body outward and the free edge of the projections 6 are thereby rotated to reduce the width of the gap 9 and thereby clamp the edge(s) against the support surface. For releasing the sheet material(s), the manipulateable member(s) 2 are simply rotated so that the cam surface no longer pushes the side walls of the main member outward, thereby increasing the width of the gap 9 and releasing the clamping pressure on the sheet material(s).
The support device according to the embodiment of
Referring to
The support device of the embodiment of
The present invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the dispositions of the components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the appended drawings in association with the present exemplary embodiments of the invention. The present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposes of illustration and example, and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concepts, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions
Although the present invention has been described herein with respect to specific illustrative embodiment, the foregoing description is intended to illustrate, rather than to limit the invention. Those skilled in the art will realize that many modifications of the preferred embodiment could be made which would be operable. All such modifications, which are within the scope of the claims, are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62887108 | Aug 2019 | US |