U.S. patent application number 10/385308 was filed with the patent office on 2004-09-16 for album page.
Invention is credited to Jordan, John P..
Application Number | 20040177544 10/385308 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32961471 |
Filed Date | 2004-09-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040177544 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jordan, John P. |
September 16, 2004 |
Album page
Abstract
An album page for the display of materials in a landscape or
portrait orientation, having a rectangular paper insert sheet
inserted in a folded sheet of transparent plastic. One short side
of the folded sheet has an opening for insertion of photographs and
negatives. One long side remains unsealed for insertion of
photographs and negatives. The paper insert sheet has two rows of
holes, and is larger in width than the folded cover sheet, to leave
a portion of the paper insert sheet exposed for use as a memo area.
The plastic folded cover sheet is folded, attached to itself along
the two short edges to form an envelope, the paper insert sheet is
inserted in the envelope, and the folded cover sheet is attached to
itself through holes in the paper insert sheet to attach the folded
cover sheet to itself, and create horizontal supports to hold the
display material in the desired position. The attachments through
the holes do not touch the edges of the folded cover sheet to
prevent the display area from being cluttered with unsightly
attachment points. This method also allows for alignment of a
printed memo area with a display pocket.
Inventors: |
Jordan, John P.; (Rehoboth,
MA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Richard D. Zimmerman
Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman, LLP
Suite 300
One Park Row
Providence
RI
02903
US
|
Family ID: |
32961471 |
Appl. No.: |
10/385308 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
40/776 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B42F 5/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
040/776 |
International
Class: |
A47G 001/06 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An album page for displaying material in either a portrait or
landscape orientation comprising a folded cover sheet formed by
folding a transparent plastic sheet substantially in half, to
create a fold, and a paper insert sheet, in which both the folded
cover sheet after folding and the paper insert sheet each are
substantially rectangular and have substantially parallel long
edges, parallel short edges, and a width and a height, the folded
cover sheet after folding having a width less than the width of the
paper insert sheet, the paper insert sheet having two parallel rows
of holes, each row of holes being substantially equidistant from
one of the short edges of the folded cover sheet and from the other
row of holes, the folded cover sheet being permanently attached to
itself along one of its short edges, and partially attached along
the other of its short edges, and at each of the holes to form six
pockets, one short edge of the folded cover sheet having an
insertion opening, and the album page also having an unattached
area in which the folded cover sheet is not attached to itself
through the paper insert.
2. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is sonic
welding.
3. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is heat
welding.
4. The album page of claim 1 in which the attachment means is hot
melt glue.
5. The album page of claim 1 having a memo area.
6. The album page of claim 6 in which the memo area has printing
aligned with the pockets without substantial variation of the
location of the printing during manufacture of numerous examples of
album pages.
7. The album page of claim 1 in which the unattached area is
defined as the area of the album page between a first line parallel
to and approximately 1.5 inches from the fold and a second line
parallel to and approximately 5.625 inches from the fold.
8. The album page of claim 1 having a plurality of perforations in
the unattached area to support the display material displayed in
the portrait orientation.
9. A method for making an album page for displaying material in
either a portrait or landscape orientation, comprising folding a
transparent plastic sheet into a rectangle having two long edges
and two short edges, attaching the plastic sheet to itself along
both short edges to create an envelope, making rows of holes having
holes in an insert sheet, the rows of holes being spaced to define
a plurality of areas slightly larger than the display material to
be displayed, inserting the insert sheet in the envelope, attaching
the folded cover sheet to itself through each of the holes to
create attachment points, the holes also being spaced so that when
the folded plastic sheet is attached through the holes to create
attachment points, the attachment points do not touch any edge of
the folded cover sheet.
10. The method of claim 9, in which a memo area on the insert sheet
is created by making the insert sheet larger than the folded cover
sheet when folded, and the memo area is printed so that the
printing is aligned substantially at the same distance from one of
the parallel short edges of the transparent plastic sheet after
assembly of the album page.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The technical field of this invention concerns album pages,
such as those used to display photographs and negatives.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Albums to display photographs, negatives and memorabilia are
well known. Early versions included bound books in which
photographs were glued to the pages. Later albums included mounting
tabs, which could be affixed by the user at the desired location to
hold the photograph or negative in the album.
[0003] Further developments to albums included albums with an
adhesive surface covered by a transparent plastic sheet, as well as
hole-punched album pages for insertion in loose-leaf binders. Some
pages include memo areas for notes and other indicia concerning the
display material.
[0004] More recent developments in the field of album pages have
included ways to permit the user additional flexibility in
displaying photographs, negatives and similar material.
Improvements also have been directed towards permitting the display
of photographs and negatives in multiple orientations or, as more
commonly known, in either the landscape or the portrait
orientation. Some album pages have attempted to incorporate recent
advances in manufacturing technology, including welding of plastic
sheets to create pockets or envelopes to hold display materials
such as photographs.
[0005] Current albums print an insert sheet to provide lines on a
memo area, but the combining in one high speed operation of
printing and assembling of current album pages frequently results
is poor alignment of the memo area lines with the individual
display pockets. The high speed printing techniques currently used
permit variation, or drift, in the location of printed lines on the
insert sheet relative to the top and bottom of the album page. What
is needed is a manufacturing process that allows the printing of
memo areas that can be easily aligned with individual display
pockets during assembly of the album page.
[0006] Also needed are further improvements in album pages to
permit display material to be displayed in a landscape or portrait
orientation, without having to re-orient the album pages in their
notebook or binder, and to use modem and efficient manufacturing
techniques in making the improved album pages to create a display
area less cluttered with the means for attachment of the component
sheets of the album page.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention concerns a new album page, and method
of making the page, for the display of materials in a landscape or
portrait orientation, which page is manufactured with low cost
efficient techniques, with a display area less cluttered with the
means for attachment of the album page components, and with a memo
area that is easily printed to align the memo area with the display
pockets. The album page is substantially rectangular, with one long
edge hole-punched for inserting in a loose-leaf binder. The album
page consists of a heat, sonically or hot melt glue sealed outer
envelope made from a single sheet of transparent plastic cover
sheet folded in half enclosing a paper insert sheet, the folded
cover sheet being sealed on both of its short edges to create an
envelope. The sealed short edges serve as the top and bottom of the
album page, as oriented in the album or binder. One short edge,
serving as the top, is partially sealed to create an insertion
opening for insertion of display materials, such as photographs and
negatives.
[0008] A paper insert sheet between the folded cover sheet creates
pockets on the front and back of the album page. The insert sheet
has two rows of holes spaced away from the edges of the album page.
The insert sheet is larger than the folded cover sheet after
folding, to leave a portion of the paper insert sheet exposed for
use as a memo area.
[0009] Using modern manufacturing techniques, the plastic folded
cover sheet is folded in half into a rectangle, and heat or
sonically welded, or glued, along the short edges to form an
envelope. The pre-cut paper insert sheet is inserted in the pocket,
and the folded cover sheet is attached to itself through the holes
in the paper insert sheet The album page also may include a memo
area on the insert sheet for inserting notes, indicia, and
descriptions of the photographs or other display material, and may
include perforations in the insert sheet for supporting display
material in the portrait orientation. The method of manufacturing
permits printing a memo area that consistently aligns with the
display pockets.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the
present invention will become better understood with reference to
the following description, appended claims, and accompanying
drawings where
[0011] FIG. 1 is a plan view of the assembled out album page;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a scaled folded cover sheet
after folding; and
[0013] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the unassembled
album page, with an unsealed folded cover sheet.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0014] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the album page 10 is comprised of
a paper insert sheet 11, and a folded cover sheet 12, and is
substantially rectangular, having two substantially parallel long
edges 14, 15 and two substantially parallel short edges 16 and 17.
The folded cover sheet is a sheet of plastic, preferably
polypropylene or polyester, folded in a substantially rectangular
shape, creating a fold 18. As shown in FIGS. 1 & 2, after
folding and sealing, the folded cover sheet has two long edges 18,
19, one of which is formed at the fold 18, and becomes one long
edge 15 of the album page.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 3, the paper insert sheet 11 is
substantially rectangular, and one of its substantially parallel
long edges 14 becomes the long edge 14 of the album page. The other
insert sheet long edge 21, when covered by the cover sheet fold 18
is near one album page long edge 15. The insert sheet also has
binding holes 23 near one album page long edge 14 for mounting the
album page in a loose-leaf binder, and the paper insert sheet
includes two rows of holes 22 that do not touch any of the edges of
the insert sheet, or the folded cover sheet after assembly.
[0016] The paper insert sheet is made of paper which preferably is
7 point or thicker, is substantially rectangular, and has a greater
dimension between its long edges 14, 21 than that between the fold
18 and the cover sheet long edge 19, to leave a portion of the
paper insert sheet exposed to form a memo area 24.
[0017] Both folded cover sheet short edges 34, 35 are sealed by
attaching the folded cover sheet to itself by attachment means to
create an envelope 41. As shown in FIG. 2, the envelope 41 has an
interior 31 between the front 32 and back 33 of the folded cover
sheet, the folded cover sheet short edges 34 & 35, fold 18 and
the folded cover sheet long edge 19. One folded cover sheet long
edge 19 remains unsealed for insertion of the insert sheet during
assembly, and for insertion of display material during use. After
the folded cover sheet is sealed, the paper insert sheet is placed
in the envelope 41 formed from the sealed folded cover sheet. The
folded cover sheet is then attached to itself by attachment means,
such as heat or sonic welding, or hot melt glue, through each hole
28 in the row of holes 22 in the paper insert sheet to create
attachment points 42. Holes are located away from the edges 14, 15,
16 and 17 to increase the viewing area for display materials, and
eliminate unsightly welds found in some earlier album pages. The
insert sheet divides the envelope 41, and, together with the
attachment of the folded cover sheet through the holes, creates six
pockets 36 as follows: the two rows divide the album page into
three substantially equal pockets measured from the album page
short edges 16, 17, and the insert sheet divides the envelope 41
into two sides corresponding to the front 32 and back 33 of the
folded cover sheet, one of the two sides being between the folded
cover sheet front 32 and the insert sheet, and the other of the two
sides being between the folded cover sheet back 33 and the insert
sheet. A pocket ordinarily is sized to fit standard display
material, such as photographs.
[0018] The attachment through the holes further strengthens the
album page, creates multiple display pockets for display material,
and creates horizontal supports for maintaining photographs and
other display material in the desired position. The holes and
attachment points 42 provide for efficient and inexpensive
manufacturing, while adequately supporting the photographs or other
display material.
[0019] The holes 28 in the paper insert sheet 11 are spaced to
permit display of standard photograph prints, and there are two
rows of holes, a row placed approximately 4.25 inches from each of
the album page short edges 16, 17. There are 4 holes 28 and
attachment points in each row. As shown in FIG. 1, there is an
unattached area 27 bounded on one side by an imaginary first line
29 approximately 1.5 inches from and parallel to the fold 18, and
on the other side by an imaginary second line 30 approximately
5.625 inches from and parallel to the fold 18, in which there are
no holes 28. The first line 29 and second line 30 are depicted in
FIG. 1 by the imaginary lines drawn between the two arrows labeled
29 and 30 respectively near the album page short edges 16, 17. The
unattached area, in which the insert sheet has no attachment points
passing through it, permits display in a portrait orientation of
photographs as wide as the unattached area, and nearly as long as
the photo album long edge.
[0020] One folded cover sheet short edge 34 serves as the top and
has an insertion opening 25 between the lines defining the
unattached area 29, 30, to create an insertion opening, which
permits insertion of the display material in a portrait
orientation. The insertion opening in this embodiment is created by
sealing the top folded cover sheet short edge 34 near but not
touching each edge 15, 19 of the folded cover sheet. In this
embodiment, the top cover sheet short edge 34 is sealed along two
top seal strips of approximately 1.25 inches each, one top seal
strip 39 beginning approximately three-sixteenths of an inch from
the fold 18 and ending at the unattached area 27, and one top seal
strip 40 beginning approximately three-sixteenths of an inch from
the edge 19 and ending at the unattached area 27.
[0021] The insert sheet may include one or more perforations 26 in
the unattached area through which the folded cover sheet is not
attached to itself, which perforations can support display material
in the portrait mode. A perforation is pushed away from the insert
sheet towards the portion of the folded cover sheet through which
the display material will be viewed, creating a hook or ledge in
which gravity holds the display material in a portrait orientation.
Attachment points through the insert sheet resist lateral movement
of display material in a portrait orientation, thereby maintaining
the preferred orientation.
[0022] The memo area 24 can be printed with words 37 and lines 38
to line up with each of the pockets 36. Since the insert sheets are
printed separately from the assembly process, the words and lines
can be accurately and consistently spaced so that they are aligned
with each pocket 36. A word or words, such as "memo", "photo",
"date" or similar message can be assigned to and identify each
pocket, to identify a caption or title for the display material in
that pocket, in contrast to the varying spacing of indicia produced
in current album pages. The more precise printing permits the user
to clearly designate which user created entries are associated with
which display materials. Blank lines 38 are provided to permit the
user to add further notes, memoranda or comments.
* * * * *