Patent Application
20090039637
Books generally deemed safe for infants and children are commercially available. These include books manufactured from paper, board, felt, vinyl, polyethylene, EVA foam, molded plastic pages, fabric, and synthetic paper. However, books made from many of these materials can easily be fragmented when subjected to water, pulling, peeling, or chewing, and any fragmentation of a young child's book into small parts can create a choking hazard.
Traditional paper and board is made of wood fiber, or other cellulose fibrous materials, that break down in water and also can be torn and can fragment into small parts. Felt fibers can easily break down and felt can fragment to create a choking hazard. Vinyl, polyethylene, and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets can tear or fragment. Hard molded plastic pages and fabric pages, although generally safe if manufactured correctly, do not have the commercially and aesthetically desirable look and feel of paper pages or board pages.
Books have been manufactured using various types of synthetic paper, but the selection of the synthetic materials and the methods of binding them to form a book weaken the structural integrity of the synthetic paper. Synthetic papers, particularly cross-fiber synthetic papers, are generally resistant to tearing. However, puncturing the synthetic materials can weaken the structural bonds and create shear points from which the synthetic papers can be torn. If the pages are pierced (e.g., by sewing or stapling) or if the papers are die-cut or punched to form holes (e.g., small-diameter circles, or shapes having sharp corners or edges), such papers can readily be torn.
Illustrative, but by no means the only, embodiments disclosed herein provide a book that is substantially waterproof and tear-resistant. The book has a plurality of synthetic paper pages that are substantially waterproof and tear-resistant. The book includes a pressure binding configured to bind the pages into book form while preserving structural integrity of the pages, and without piercing the pages.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features will be set forth in part in the description, examples, and figures which follow, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art on examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
For the purpose of illustrating the herein described systems and methods, drawings are provided; with the understanding, however, that the herein described system and methods are not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
Illustrative, but by no means the only, embodiments disclosed herein provide a book that is substantially waterproof and tear-resistant, that is, having pages that are generally not tearable by a three-year-old child. An exemplary book may include pages made of high-density cross-fiber synthetic paper and a binding assembly, which may be made of molded plastic. In an illustrative embodiment, synthetic paper may be pre-cut into rectangular pages to be bound. The binding includes an inner binding and an outer binding. The inner binding and the outer binding are fastened together such that the synthetic paper is trapped (e.g., at a center fold) and secured by pressure between the inner and outer bindings. Trapping the synthetic paper without puncturing it eliminates potential shear points that can contribute to tearing. A hinged fastener may be provided for securing a cover to the outer binding, thereby avoiding the use of glues and threads that can degrade in water.
Synthetic paper pages may be made of any of various suitable materials. Most types of synthetic paper are waterproof, and many types are tear-resistant but not tear-proof, particularly if sharp corners are cut into the material or the sheets are punctured in any fashion, or if die-cut edges are rough. Of the synthetic papers commercially available, cross-fiber types offer the highest level of tear resistance, but performance of a particular cross-fiber synthetic paper depends upon factors such as the structural integrity of the fibers, the weight of the composite plastics, and the methods employed in die-cutting and assembling the sheets into an end product.
Examples of the types of commercially available synthetic paper that may be used to form synthetic paper pages include the following illustrative materials: (i) a composite laminate consisting of a strong tear resistant center-ply material bonded between two layers of superior quality coated or uncoated paper (e.g., Duralon™ paper, commercially available from Arlon); (ii) a polypropylene plastic film (e.g., YUPO® synthetic paper, commercially available from Yupo Corporation of America); (iii) a mineral-filled polypropylene synthetic paper (e.g., PRO-Prints synthetic paper, commercially available from Transilwrap Company, Inc.); (iv) a polypropylene film reinforced with various fillers (e.g., Spectralite® synthetic paper, commercially available from Multi-Plastics, Inc.); (v) a synthetic paper produced from a film of expanded high-density polyethylene that has been simultaneously biaxially oriented (e.g., Polyart® synthetic paper, commercially available from Arjobex); (vi) a polyolefin single- and cross-fiber based sheet (e.g., synthetic non-tearable paper commercially available from Amtrex International); and (vii) a spunbonded olefin synthetic paper formed by a process using continuous and very fine fibers of 100 percent high-density polyethylene that are randomly distributed and nondirectional (e.g., Tyvek®, commercially available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company). Spunbonded olefin, in a weight of at least about 105 grams per square meter, is believed to be durable, substantially waterproof and substantially tear-proof when assembled into a book using the disclosed pressure binding.
As an additional safety measure (e.g., for compliance with governmental flame retardancy standards), a flame retardant may be applied, if desired, to surfaces of the spunbonded olefin or other materials comprising the synthetic paper pages. The synthetic paper pages may be printed using any of various suitable printing processes, such as offset printing, silkscreen printing, direct printing, sublimation printing, digital printing, laser printing, and ink jet printing, or other printing methods. If desired, the synthetic paper pages may be embossed.
Referring to the drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like elements,
Pressure binding 130 and covers 140, 640 are formed from waterproof and tear-resistant or tearproof materials such as, for example, hard plastic, such as molded acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, or other hard plastics or hard vinyls. Additional examples of suitable materials for covers include high-density foams, and plastic laminated boards.
Covers 140, 640 may be printed, may be wholly or partially coated with a heat-sensitive ink, and may include any of various ornamental or functional features; for example, one or more apertures 142, or one or more dimples 141, which may, if desired, be formed or treated (e.g., rubberized) in such a way as to allow a child reader to grip the book 100 more securely. In some embodiments, a handle (not shown) may be provided on the cover. In further embodiments, any of front cover 140, back cover 640, and/or handle, may include one or more audiovisual event generators, such as a speaker, bell, or buzzer for generating an audible event, or a light, LED, video screen, or electronically-triggered mechanical device for generating a visible event.
In still further embodiments, all or a portion of the front cover 140 and/or back cover 640 may be hollow, with the hollow portion forming a container. The contents of the hollow portion may, in some embodiments, be visible through a transparent portion of the cover 140, 640. The hollow portion may contain a fluid (e.g., water). In further embodiments, the hollow portion may contain a plurality of ornamental items. Examples of ornamental items include beads, particles of glitter, and items representing creatures or other shapes relevant to the text of the book 100. Ornamental items may include items configured to make sounds (e.g., to rattle) when the book 100 is shaken.
The outer binding 210 includes one or more surfaces, such as shaped surfaces 251, 252, formed to fit into one or more corresponding surfaces of the inner binding 220, such as shaped surfaces 253, 254. Shaped surfaces 251, 252 may be raised surfaces, and may be formed integrally with outer binding 210. Shaped surfaces 253, 254 may be raised surfaces, and may be formed integrally with inner binding 220. The shaped surfaces 251, 252, 253, and 254 can be configured to form mutually interengaging faces of the outer and inner bindings 210, 220. In an illustrative example, shaped surfaces 251, 252 of the outer binding 210 may include notches or ribs that fit into corresponding or complementary notches or ribs of shaped surfaces 253, 254 of the inner binding 220. The shaped surfaces 251, 252, 253, and 254 are configured to prevent movement of pages 130 trapped by pressure between the outer and inner bindings 210, 220.
Any of a wide variety of waterproof and tearproof means, such as hinges or rings, may be used to attach covers to the pressure binding 130. In some embodiments, the outer binding 210 includes a cover mounting 240 (e.g., a clip-fit or snap-fit mounting or hinge member) for hingedly securing front cover 140 to the outer binding 210. A corresponding cover mounting (not shown) may be provided on the opposite side of the outer binding 210 for hingedly securing back cover 640 to the outer binding 210. In some embodiments, a handle (not shown) may be provided on the outer binding 210.
An outer binding 210 in accordance with the disclosed embodiment is depicted in
An inner binding 220 in accordance with the disclosed embodiment is depicted in
In addition to the foregoing embodiments of pressure binding 130, further embodiments of pressure binding 130 may be formed in a wide variety of additional configurations that will be apparent to one skilled in the art. For example, the outer binding 210 and inner binding 220 of pressure binding 130 may be joined to one another in an interengaging relationship by at least one fastener 230. In an illustrative example, the outer binding 210 and inner binding 220 are pivotably joined, such as by a hinge. In a further embodiment, the hinge may be a living hinge integral with both the outer binding 210 and inner binding 220, thereby allowing the outer and inner bindings 210, 220 to be formed in one piece. In such an embodiment, the pressure binding 130 may be folded at the hinge so as to grip the pages between the outer and inner bindings 210, 220, and then fastened using at least one fastener 230.
In a further embodiment, sheets 120A and 120B may each be formed from two or more layers of synthetic paper, bonded or sealed together; e.g., by an adhesive (such as glue or epoxy), or heat sealed. In a still further embodiment, edges of sheets 120A and 120B may be hemmed, provided that the sheets 120A, 120B are not sewn or otherwise punctured on exposed edges or surfaces. For example, an edge may be hemmed by folding a flap inward from the edge to form a two-layer edge portion, and bonding or sealing the two layers together; e.g., by an adhesive (such as glue or epoxy) or by heat sealing.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
