Patent Application
20070205165
1. Technical Field
The field of this invention is vertical supports for shelvable items such as books, binders, note books and the like. More specifically, the present invention is a vertical support for books and other shelvable items enabling vertical support of a single book, binder or other shelvable item without needing other vertical or lateral support.
2. Background
It is a common experience for those that have books, binders and other shelvable items to have vertically shelved items lean to one side or fall unless supported in a vertical position, especially when shelving single books, soft bound books and flexible notebooks and binders. The leaning causes the binding of books to warp and weaken, eventually causing damage to the binding. When multiple books are shelved in an upright vertical position next to each other, their front and back covers provide vertical and lateral support and to the books, but the books on the edges need additional vertical support and the inner books lose their support when adjacent books are removed from the shelf.
Various vertical support devices have been developed to permit books to be shelved in a vertical position without damaging the binding. For example, devices consisting of vertical supports placed at book ends provide support at the end book positions, with the covers of adjacent books providing vertical and lateral support to the other books. Such devices require repeated placement and adjustment as books are added and removed from the shelf. When they are moved, the books often immediately lean or fall to one side, resulting in damage to the book binding. The cost of replacing damaged books is considerable, particularly in large institutional library settings where books are heavily circulated on and off shelves.
While efforts have been made to improve vertical support devices for books and other shelvable items, the above described deficiencies continue to exist. What is needed is a device that provides support to individual books, so that even when a book is added or removed from a shelf the book remains supported in an upright vertical position, which does not require repeated placement and removal and which is simple and easy to use with minimal parts that can be lost over time. The present invention overcomes these deficiencies and provides an effective and easy use vertical support for single books and other items.
The present invention is a device for maintaining books, binders, notebooks and other shelvable items in a vertical position to prevent damage to the item covered by the item leaning or falling to one side. The present invention allows books to be maintained in an upright vertical position without having lateral support. With the present invention single books and flexible binders, which tend to fall or lean to one side when placed in an upright vertical position on a shelf, can be supported in a vertical position without the need for additional lateral or other support. The device can be configured as an “L” shaped single part or as two interlocking parts, with a portion or part affixed, fastened or otherwise mounted to (or forming an integral portion of) the spine of book, binder or other item to be supported, and another portion or part mounted to the horizontal underside surface of the shelf. The device has a vertical surface suitable for affixing labels, stickers and other indicia such as for library call number, category, topic or other labeling. The device is preferably made of a rigid material although it can have flexibility. The device's configuration and manner of use also allows users to keep all books, binders and other shelvable items neatly aligned with the front edge of the shelf, making library organizational functions much easier to accomplish and maintain.
Each of the figures depicts the device as used with a book, but the device is not limited to use with books and can be used with notebooks, binders and multiple other shelvable items.
The present invention is a vertical support device for books, binders and other shelvable items which enables the vertical support of single items without the need for additional lateral or support and which does not necessitate repeated placement and removal as books or other items are added and removed from the shelf, and which maintains the shelvable items neatly aligned with the outer edge of the shelf. The device is preferably incorporated into, affixed, fastened or otherwise mounted (collectively, “affixed”) to the inner or outer vertical spine surface of the item to be supported and comprises a single flat piece configured in an “L” shape, with the first portion of the “L” disposed vertically and affixed to the spine of the book or other item, said portion extending past the bottom of the book or item and vertically down to the bottom surface of the shelf, which is where the bend of the “L” is disposed. The second portion of the “L” is disposed horizontally, and inwardly from the outer edge of the bottom surface of the shelf. The second portion of the “L” rests against the underside surface of the shelf, thereby providing vertical support. The end of the second portion is preferably curved or bent outwardly (downward by with reference to the underside surface of the shelf) to allow for easy removal and installation of the device. The user can pull down on the downwardly bent end to loosen the device from the shelf. The angle created between the “short” second and “long” first “L” portion is preferably acute (i.e., less than 90°) such that when the device is installed on the book and placed on a shelf the shorter second “L” portion rests against the underside surface of the shelf with some tension. The bottom edge having a portion angled downwardly is used to pull to loosen and position the device over the shelf underside support surface. The two portions of the support can be of equal length or one can be longer than the other, and either portion can be the longer portion. References to “shorter” and “longer” are not to be interpreted as limitations as to the scope of the invention.
As noted above, the “L” shaped support's corner portion is placed adjacent to the outer edge of the shelf and the horizontal portion bends around the underside surface of the shelf. The vertical portion is disposed upwardly adjacent to the book spine, and is preferably affixed to the spine (which can be the inner or outer spine surface) via adhesive, hook and loop fasteners, rivets or other fasteners, or other fixation means or combinations thereof, or can be formed on the shelvable item surface and/or otherwise be made integral to the shelvable item. The device provides vertical support to individual books without the need for lateral support from adjacent book faces, which eliminates abrasive rubbing of book surfaces, thereby preventing wearing of books. Referring now to
While the present invention has been shown and described herein in what are considered to be the preferred embodiments thereof, illustrating the results and advantages over the prior art obtained through the present invention, the invention is not limited to those specific embodiments. Thus, the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as illustrative and other embodiments may be selected without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
