U.S. patent number 3,809,352 [Application Number 05/330,568] was granted by the patent office on 1974-05-07 for book holder and shield.
Invention is credited to Donald L. Mathias.
United States Patent |
3,809,352 |
Mathias |
May 7, 1974 |
BOOK HOLDER AND SHIELD
Abstract
A book holder formed preferably from a sheet of transparent
synthetic resin of suitable thickness to render it relatively stiff
and including a book-supporting panel disposed at an acute angle
relative to a supporting surface such as a table or the like, a
bracing panel extending angularly rearward and downward from the
upper edge of the supporting panel, and a transparent holding and
viewing panel spaced sufficiently from the book-supporting panel to
accomodate a book in open condition and overlying the exposed pages
of the book to render the same visible and prevent contact of the
surfaces of the pages by any extraneous material. The
book-supporting and transparent holding and viewing panel form a
slot to receive a book in open condition, the lower edges of the
two panels being connected by a short section of the material
comprising a ledge upon which the lower edge of the book rests, and
the lower edge of the supporting panel also preferably being bent
smoothly outward to form a flange capable of serving as an
additional book supporting ledge in relation to the bracing
panel.
Inventors: |
Mathias; Donald L. (York,
PA) |
Family
ID: |
23290334 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/330,568 |
Filed: |
February 8, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/444.1;
248/451; D6/314 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B
23/042 (20130101); A47B 2023/045 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47B
23/00 (20060101); A47B 23/04 (20060101); A47b
097/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;248/441,445,451,453 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schultz; William H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Just; C. Hercus
Claims
1. A book holder formed from resilient transparent material and
comprising in combination a book supporting panel adapted to be
supported at an acute angle to a supporting surface such as a desk
or table and being of a width adequate to underlie the open covers
of a book to be supported thereby in open position, a bracing panel
connected to the normally top edge of said supporting panel and
extending downwardly and away from the same for contact of the
lower edge thereof with said supporting surface at an acute angle
thereto, a ledge extending along and outwardly from the lower edge
of said supporting panel to receive the lower edge of a book when
disposed against said supporting panel, and a substantially flat
transparent holding and viewing panel at least as wide as and
connected to and extending upward from the outer edge of said ledge
and overlying said supporting panel to form a channel of sufficient
depth to receive a book in open position and adapted to support and
maintain said book in such open position for viewing of the pages
thereof through said transparent panel, the upper edge of said
transparent panel extending above the upper edge of said supporting
panel a predetermined distance to provide an adequate protection
surface and said transparent panel also being closer to the upper
edge of said supporting panel than the bottom edge to accommodate
the holder to a range of different thicknesses of books and the
width of said transparent panel being adequate to cover at least
the printed matter on a pair of open pages of a book to protect the
same and
2. The book holder according to claim 1 in which the lower edge of
said bracing panel terminates in an outwardly smoothly bent flange
extending substantially perpendicularly to the plane of said
bracing panel and thereby providing a smoothly curved lower edge
upon said bracing panel and said flange being adapted to serve as
an additional book supporting ledge relative to said bracing panel.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Book holders have been available for many years which are formed
from wire to provide, in general, means to support a book in open
condition while extending upward and somewhat rearwardly at the top
when the holder is disposed upon a supporting surface such as a
desk, table, or otherwise. Adjacent the lower edge of the
book-supporting means or panel is a narrow shelf or ledge upon
which the lower edge of the book rests for support in open
condition. Many books, especially when new, do not readily remain
in open condition when supported upon such a holder, or even while
lying flat upon a supporting surface. Accordingly, it is necessary
to bend the open book backwardly upon itself to obviate the
stiffness. Also, when supported upon a book holder of the type
referred to above, the lower ledge arrangement of the holder has on
occasions been provided with a slightly upturned lip portion in an
effort to attempt to overcome the tendency of the pages of a book
to move to closed position or to some other position than that
which is desired for reading. Usually, some kind of prop or brace
has been provided on the book-supporting means to extend rearwardly
and downwardly for engagement with the supporting surface.
In addition to the wire-type book holders referred to above, there
have been other types formed from sheet material, one example of
which is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,637, to Huffman, dated Feb.
20, 1962. The patent states that the holder may be formed from
either metal or plastic and a rearwardly extending panel forms the
supporting means for the upward and rearwardly inclined
book-supporting panel. Since the material is somewhat resilient,
the lower panel thereof may be disposed beneath a shelf or similar
panel to clamp the book holder thereto. No means is provided in
such arrangement to maintain a book against closing or other types
of movement of the pages; neither is there any protecting surface
for the open book.
A somewhat sophisticated type of book holder and rack is disclosed
in U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,721, to Pollard, dated Oct. 7, 1952. In
addition to means being provided to support a book in various
position upon a stand or table-like structure, there is also a
pivoted, U-shaped holding member which, when extending downwardly
from the upper surface of the structure, provides a vertical trough
in which a book may be supported in idle condition. There is no
suggestion of any portions of said book holding arrangement being
transparent; nor is there any suggestion of a book being supported
within the holder in open condition for purposes of the pages being
visible through either wall of the trough member.
There also is U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,658, to Palmer, dated Apr. 23,
1963 which comprises a cardholder that is formed from transparent
sheet resin material, certain portions of which are formed into
arrangement in which a pair of parallel panels support a card,
while a shelf arrangement also supports a stack of cards presumably
similar to that which is exposed between the parallel panels. The
only suggestion offered by this patent relative to the present
invention is the use of sheet plastic material which forms a holder
for a stack of cards.
The present invention comprises a very simple, inexpensive, yet
highly effective book holder which, in addition to holding a book
in open position, not only positively insures the holding of the
book in such position but, with equal importance, covers the
exposed, open pages of the book from contact by extraneous material
such as that to which books are subjected when in use in
laboratories, kitchen activities such as when a cook is following a
receipe, and other similar uses in which the open pages of books
frequently become spattered and even mutilated when used during
average operations in which the use of the book is involved. Such
possible damage to a book as well as possibly holding the same in
open position is assured by the present invention in view of the
characteristics thereof set forth below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a
book holder in which a pair of associated panels respectively are
spaced apart to form a channel in which an open book may be
inserted so that outermost pages of the open book are exposed and
are visible through the outermost panel of said pair of panels,
which is transparent to permit visible observation of said
outermost pages of the open book, the transparent outermost panel
also protecting the exposed pages from contact by extraneous
material present in the atmosphere such as flying from egg beaters
in a kitchen or an electric mixing machine, or spattering from
various operations in chemical laboratories, garages, and the like
wherein it is necessary to follow directions, such as receipes,
steps of operations etc. while a housewife, scientist, mechanic or
otherwise is performing certain operations as directed by such open
book.
It is another object of the invention to form such book holder from
a continuous strip or sheet of synthetic resin, for example, which
is transparent and preferably of uniform width, to not only form
the book-receiving channel referred to above but also provide a
rearward angularly extending bracing panel the lower edge of which
is adapted to engage a supporting surface such as a bench, table or
otherwise, for purpose of supporting the book-receiving channel at
an angle which is acute to such supporting surface, whereby the
book holder serves similarly to an easel.
A still further object of the invention is to form said
book-receiving channel from a pair of panels of said material in
which the upper edge portions of said panels are spaced more
closely than the bottom edge portions thereof in order to provide,
in conjunction with the natural resilience of the material, a
somewhat elastic clamping arrangement operable to hold the exposed
pages of an open book in substantially flat condition, as well as
to accommodate the holder to hold books of different thicknesses
and in view of such uneven spacing between the upper and lower
portions of the panels which form said channel, a relativly thin
book may be held in open condition with the pages arranged
substantially flat, as well as thicker books being accommodated and
the pages thereof held in relatively flat condition when mounted
within said channel.
Still another object of the invention is to provide the outermost,
transparent holding and viewing panel with a greater vertical
dimension than the adjacent book-supporting panel which cooperates
with the viewing panel to form said channel, thereby providing a
greater area of protective surface for the book, while minimizing
the use of material to form the book-supporting panel of the
channel as well as the bracing panel which extends angularly
rearwardly therefrom.
One further object of the invention is to terminate the lower end
of the bracing panel in a smoothly curved, outwardly extending
flange which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the
bracing panel and, in addition to forming a smoothly curved lower
edge for the bracing panel so as to minimize the possibility of
scratching and damaging a supporting surface such as a table top,
also provide another book-supporting ledge which may be used in
conjuction with the bracing panel to comprise an additional book
support under circumstances where it is not necessary or desirable
to utilize the transparent holding and viewing panel of the book
holder comprising other aspects of the present invention.
Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, are set
forth in the following specification and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing comprising apart thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a book holder embodying the
principles of the present invention and showing an exemplary book
mounted in operative position therein.
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the book holder shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the book holder shown in FIGS. 1 and
2.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the book holder shown in the
preceding figures showing the relative positions of the panels
thereof prior to mounting a book therein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
It is well known to housewives, laboratory technicians and
scientist, garage machanics and otherwise that when it is necessary
to follow directions from printed pages of a book, it is often
inconvenient to lay a book in flat, open position upon a supporting
surface such as a counter, bench, table or otherwise and have the
book remain open, while performing certain operations directed in
accordance with instructions contained upon the printed pages of
the book. Not only do relatively new books have a tendency for the
pages to move when the book is lying flat, in open position, but
the tendency for pages to migrate from a desired open position
increases when an attempt is made to prop an open book upwardly,
approaching vertical position, so as to more readily observe the
printed pages of the book, without some sort of arrangement being
available to hold the book in such open position such as by putting
rubber bands around the opposite open sides of the book, or
resorting to many other inconvenient tedious arrangements.
In addition to the difficulty of maintaining a book in readily
visible, fully open condition to expose certain desired pages
thereof, there is also the jeopardy of staining or damaging the
exposed pages such as spattering them with grease, color flavoring,
acid or other similar damaging liquids, as well as dirt and grease
such as usually found in garages and similar shops where open books
are sometimes required to furnish directions for certain
operations.
The book holder 10 comprising the present invention includes a
book-supporting panel 12 which is arranged to extend upwardly and
rearwardly from a supporting surface 14 such as a counter top,
table, shelf, or otherwise. The panel 12 is held in such position
by a downward and rearwardly extending bracing panel 16, the panels
12 and 16 being connected at the upper ends thereof in angular
relationship. The lower end of panel 12 terminates in a ledge 18 of
limited depth, such as of the order on 11/2 to 2 inches, for
example, and coextensive in length with the horizontal dimension of
the panel 12. Ledge 18 is integral with the lower edge of panel
12.
Extending upwardly from the outer edge of ledge 18 is a transparent
holding and viewing panel 20. The upper end 22 extends a limited
distance above the angular connection of the upper ends of panels
12 and 16 so as to form ample protective area for the panel 20 so
as to cover a wide range of exposed pages of an open book 24 when
the same is mounted in such open condition within the channel
formed by the panels 12 and 20 which are spaced apart an adequate
distance to accomodate a wide range of different thicknesses and
areas of books.
In the preferred construction of the holder comprising the present
invention, as will be seen from FIG. 4, the upper portion of panel
12 is disposed a shorter distance from the upper portions of panel
22 than the lower portions of said panel are spaced apart. Due to
the fact that the preferred material from which the book holder 10
is formed is preferably thermoplastic synthetic resin of
approximately one-eighth inch thickness, and has limited resilience
and flexibility, the arrangement of the panels 12 and 20 shown in
FIG. 4 will result in the channel between said panels accomodating
a substantial range of different thicknesses of books from
relatively thin to relatively thick. For example, books of as
little as one-half inch thick as well as books having a thickness
of about 2 inches all may be accomodated within the holder of the
present invention which embodys the design shown particularly in
FIGS. 2 and 4. Methyl-methacrylite is a highly suitable type of
synthetic resin from which to form the book holder 10 but it is to
be understood that other equivalent types of thermo-plastic resin,
having at least limited resilience and flexibility, and suitable
transparency may be used in lieu of said specifically mentioned
resin.
As a further useful feature, the book holder 10 includes an
additional flange 26 which extends substantially perpendicularly
outward from the lower edge of the bracing panel 16 to serve two
functions. One of these is to provide a smoothly rounded lower edge
28 for the bracing panel 16, said lower edge being that which
contacts a supporting surface 14, for example, and will not mar or
scratch the same. Similarly, the connections between the opposite
edges of the ledge 18 and the supporting panel 12 and viewing panel
20 are likewise at least slightly rounded to provide non-scratching
contact areas or surfaces which engage the supporting surface 14.
The second purpose of flange 26 is to serve as an additional
book-supporting ledge if it is desired to use the book holder 10 in
a conventional manner in which there is no outer panel to cover the
open pages of a book.
Solely for purposes of illustration and without limitation, it has
been found that a book holder of the type described above and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing may be made from a sheet of
methyl maethacrylite resin, of substantially one-eighth inch
thickness, and transparent, which is approximately 10 inches wide
and about 30 inches long. By heating the same and bending the sheet
around a suitable template to form the various angular connections
between the panels 12, 16 and 20, as well as the ledge 18 and
flange 26, followed by cooling of the formed book holder, a rigid
shape is provided which resembles the configuration shown in FIG. 4
as viewed in side elevation. Such arrangement provides a foremost
holding and viewing panel 20 which is of a highly protective
nature, while permitting ready visibility of printed pages of an
open book 24. Such panel will be approximately 10 inches wide and
about 9 inches high and this dimension will adequately cover a wide
range of average sizes of books when in open position and disposed
within the channel between panels 12 and 20. The angle at which the
book is held with respect to the supporting surface 14 has been
selected to be useful in a wide range of activities including
household kitchen uses, laboratory uses, and garage uses, as well
as any other suitable use where books preferably are held in open
position without the use of human hands or make-shift holding
arrangements, whereby the open pages of the book are readily
visible and are protected against contact by accidental spattering
of extraneous material. In the event such material spatters the
outer surface of the panel 20, it readily may be wiped
therefrom.
In view of the foregoing, it'll be seen that the present invention
provides a highly useful book holder which not only serves to
support a book in open position in which it is readily viewable in
a manner similar to that in which an easel would hold a book, but
in addition, the exposed pages of the book are covered or shielded
by a transparent panel in a manner in which the open pages will not
be stained, damaged or otherwise harmed. If necessary to change the
pages of the book, it readily may be removed from the channel
between panels 12 and 20 to permit flipping of the pages, followed
by immediate restoration of the book to the channel. Further, an
auxiliary book rack or holder is afforded by the flange 26 on the
lower edge of the bracing panel 16, thus rendering the book holder
10 more versatile than otherwise would be possible if the flange 26
were not provided. Lastly, the lower surfaces of the book holder
which contacts a supporting surface 14, for example, are of a
rounded and therefore non-scratching or damaging type.
While the invention has been described and illustrated in its
several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the
invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein
illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in
other ways falling within the scope of the invention as illustrated
and described.
* * * * *