Gravity Lock Bookstand and Binder

The present invention represents a new design and construction comprising the necessary elements for a satisfactory solution to the basic need for a strong, portable, collapsible and inexpensive bookstand. Numerous bookstands have been marketed with very limited success; their use is hardly common.

The patent literature abounds with ingenious, intricate and impractical solutions which have not been viable commercially. The present invention addresses the main requirements of extreme simplicity, maximum portability, lowest cost, quick set up and folding procedure while exhibiting exceptional stability through its principle of gravity lock. Additional objects of this invention are ease of manufacture, provision for simple page holding and integration of the bookstand with a ring binder which will promote the portability and the acceptance of the bookstand. Another object has been the proportioning of the panels of the combination so that additional useful configurations could be erected from the same preferred embodiment. Another object still has been the integration of the bookstand with a book cover and in still another embodiment, maximum flatness in compact folding has been achieved with two angular display choices as a bookstand for seated reading or as a lectern for standing reading.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank piece of material consisting of five panels joined by four hinges.

FIG. 2 is a view of the partially closed ring binder-bookstand.

FIG. 3 shows the ring binder-bookstand fully closed.

FIG. 4 shows a partially opened bookstand not fully erected.

FIG. 5 shows the fully open and erected bookstand.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, showing the elastic cord used for retaining the book's pages flat.

FIG. 7 shows the fully erected bookstand with a book whose pages are being held in place by an elastic cord.

FIG. 8 shows the ring binder in the process of being placed in the configuration of FIG. 9 to become a miniature drawing board.

FIG. 10 illustrates two juxtaposed ring binders which become in FIG. 11 a larger sturdier stand.

FIG. 12 illustrates the reversely erected ring binder-stand as it becomes a demonstration easel.

FIG. 13, the rear view of FIG. 12 also shows that side's configuration able to function as a bookstand.

FIG. 14, a rearranged configuration of both FIGS. 12 and 13, shows a lectern type of bookholder.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a six panel embodiment of the ring binder-stand combination for mobile stability.

FIGS. 16, 17, 18 and 19 show alternative forms of erecting the bookstand.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the seven panel embodiment which is capable of very compact closing for optimum portability.

FIGS. 21, 22, 23 demonstrate the gradual closing of the seven panel bookstand.

FIG. 24 shows a partially open view of the combination bookcover and bookstand.

FIG. 25 shows the fully closed book cover without a book.

FIG. 26 shows the fully closed bookcover containing a book inside it.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the initial stage of construction for the preferred embodiment. FIG. 1 illustrates a blank piece of material composed of five panels: 20, 23, 24, 26, 28, connected sequentially by hinges numbered 21, 23, 25, 27. Panel 20 serves as the vertical support member which in gravity lock sustains the erected bookstand, panel 22 serves as the back-rest for the displayed material, panel 24 serves as the rear and downwardly inclined shelf on which the bottom of the displayed book can rest, panel 26 is the spine or backbone of the loose leaf ring binder which also provides the elevation from which panel 24 slopes downwardly in the erected stand and panel 28, the rear cover of the ring binder is also the base of the erected stand. FIG. 2 shows the open ring binder with ring mechanism 30, attached to panel 26. FIG. 3 shows a closed view of the ring binder which represents also the folded bookstand. FIG. 4 represents the partially opened bookstand where support panel 20 is seen moving away from rotating panel 22. FIG. 5 illustrates the erected bookstand in which panel 20 is seen to rest vertically on panel 28, the spine or panel 26 is shown maintaining its backbone role and panels 24 and 22 are seen forming a right angle cradle as shelf and back-rest panels create a secure nest for the displayed book. FIG. 6 shows the erected stand with an elastic cord 31 on panel 22 in order to hold flat the pages of the displayed book as illustrated in FIG. 7. Panel 20 will not slip or drift from its edge contact in perpendicularity with panel 28 and will develop increasing stability with increasingly heavier loads.

The vertical component of the gravitational force acting on the displayed material presses the edge of panel 20 firmly against base panel 28. This gravity lock feature is a very real one and can be experienced by placing a finger between the interface of panels 20, and 28 when loaded with a heavy book. The correct proportions between panels 20, 22, 24, 26 define a 90 degree angle which best retains the bottom of the book against forward slippage which would have to occur forward and upwardly. FIGS. 8 and 9 show the erection of the closed binder into a lectern type of bookstand which can also serve as an auxilliary drawing board. This configuration is obtained by pushing the front cover of the binder back towards the spine, causing said spine to lie flat as an extension of the rear cover upon which, the shelf panel 24 becomes the acting spine of the erected lectern, as panel 22 assumes a slanted 20 degree position suitable for a standing or lecturing reader. We will now describe a unique configuration: the asembled combination of two ring binders into a larger display stand and the further application of two such composites into very large display stands capable of holding larger and heavier display objects. As illustrated in FIG. 10, two ring binders are to be engaged, the first one erected in the described bookstand position as has been shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Juxtaposed and above, another ring binder is shown opened to an angle in excess of 270 degrees. FIG. 11 shows the completed assembly. The panels in each case bear similar numeration; the binders are also identified as A for the first one and B for the second one, that their actual position in FIG. 11 may be clearer.

When two such composite combinations are placed in parallel, spaced apart, they will support much larger and heavier material such as framed paintings, large framed maps or a drawing board from which displays, group discussions are facilitated. Two such composites back to back, spaced apart, will hold large flip charts in vertical display. These combinations are feasible only because of the designed proportionality between the various panels as exemplified in the equation described in the next page, in which the widths of panel 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 are labeled respectively, a, b, c, d, e. Defining the distance from line 29 to hinge 23 in FIGS. 10 and 11 as f, also equivalent to the width of panel 24 (or c), we postulate the following equation which states an optimal relationship which makes the configuration of FIG. 11 feasible and stable when loaded with the displayed material.

The proportionality equation is: ##EQU1## Under these conditions the configuraton of FIG. 11 is stable. When these proportions are departed from, the feasibility of FIG. 11 is threatened even as the stability of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 is still maintained. The optimally specified proportions however, provide optimal stability in all applications described. Other single configurations best erected under the optimal proportionality described above, are exemplified in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 where the totally opened and inversely closed ring binder stably linked through manual fastening means 32 & 33 on panels 20 and 28, exhibit respectively an easel, a typing copyholder and a lectern type of bookholder.

All these configurations are predicated on the preferred embodiment discussed. FIG. 15 shows a blank piece of material composed of six panels, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50. The six panel bookstand is shown in two states of erection in FIGS. 16 and 17. Panel 40 is seen fitting over upraised larger panel 50 whose free edge is trapped under hinge 41 and whose engagement is maintained by the weight of the displayed book in gravity lock. An opposite alternative is displayed in FIG. 18 which shows the six panel bookstand in partial state of erection. In FIG. 19 we see longer panel 40 placed at hinge 49 which ensconces the edge of inclined panel 40, holding it securely in gravity lock when loaded with a book.

Another useful embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 20, 21, 22, and 23. In FIG. 20, seven panels numbered from right to left, 60, 62 64, 66. 68, 70, 72 are sequentially connected by hinges 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 and 71. Manual fasteners 75 and 74 are repectively located on hinge 63 and on line 73. Line 73 is spaced from hinge 67 so that on erection panels 66, 64 may form a right angle as panel 64 in the erected stand slopes downwardly and rearwardly, that it may support the bottom of a displayed book. In effecting full closure of this bookstand embodiment, hinge 63 becomes the slim spine of the compactly folded stand. As observed in FIG. 21 and is further illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23, panels 70 and 72 plus hinge 71 have an approximate total width equivalent to that of panel 60, and serve as internal flaps in the folded bookstand.

Also, the sum of the widths of panels 64, 66 and 68 with their intervening hinges, 65 and 67, will approximately equal the width of panel 62 which accounts for the symmetric aspect of the folded stand of FIG. 23, which compactness promotes the portability of the bookstand. Still another valuable embodiment also composed of seven panels, differently proportioned, will serve as a bookstand and as a bookcover. FIGS. 24, 25, and 26 show the bookcover and bookstand combination.

In FIG. 24, panels 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90 and 92 are sequentially connected by hinges 81, 83, 85, 87, 89 and 91. Optional manual fasteners 94 and 93 are located respectively at hinge 83 and line 95, whose distance from hinge 87 will permit panel 84 which also serves as the bookcover spine to become the bottom support shelf in the erected bookstand. Symmetric book covers on both sides result from proportioning panels 86 and 88 plus hinge 87 to equal the width of panel 82 or the right side of the cover in FIG. 26. Likewise panels 90, 92 and hinge 91, will effectively equal right inside cover panel 80, which is the vertical support for the erected bookstand. This bookcover could be made of plastic or light cardboard, with decorative art or custom made promotional book jackets.