Supports: racks – Special article – Book support type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-18
2002-01-01
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Book support type
C211S043000, C248S441100, CD19S034100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334539
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to support mechanisms for supporting items in a generally upright position, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a bendable bookend that is manufactured, shipped, stored, and displayed in a non-operating position as a substantially flat planar piece and that can be bent into an operating position by an end user to form a bookend having a base and a support member extending upwardly therefrom.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many different designs of bookends are available for supporting items, such as books, on a substantially horizontal, planar surface, such as a shelf. One common type includes a single sheet of metal which is cut and bent to form an upstanding plate member, a base, and a tongue extending inwardly, parallel to the flat base. The base and tongue being at a right angle from the plate member so the tongue can lie on the shelf with the plate member standing therefrom. The end of a row of books is then placed upon the tongue and rests against the plate member. Such book ends are often stamped out of flat metal and bent during the manufacturing process to form the base and tongue and the upstanding plate member extending therefrom at a right angle. Since the base and tongue are rigid extensions perpendicular to the vertical side of the book end, such a book end tends to be bulky. These bulky formed-up bookends tend to take up a lot of storage and display space, and increase the volume and thus the cost for packaging and shipping the bookends.
Other known types of bookends include objects having a relatively low center of gravity and that include a flat base and a flat side against which the end book in a series of books is supported. Since this type of bookend does not have a tongue for books to rest upon and hold the bookend in place, such book ends must be of relatively heavy weight to hold books in an upright position. Again, this type of bookend is bulky and tends to take up a lot of storage and display space. In addition, the shape and weight of this type of bookend tend to increase the volume and weight of the bookends and thus the packaging and shipping costs.
Still another type of bookend is a bookend having a base and two or more upstanding plate members extending upward from the base at right angles to the base. For example, a corner type bookend typically includes a base, a side panel extending upward from the base at a right angle, and an end panel also extending upward from the base at a right angle and also at a right angle to the side panel. The end of a row of books is then placed upon the base and rests against the side panel and end panel. Such book ends are often stamped out of flat metal and folded into shape during the manufacturing process. Accordingly, these corner type bookends also tend to be bulky thereby requiring additional storage and display space and having increased packaging and shipping costs.
As can be seen, most conventional metal bookends are manufactured having a horizontal base and a vertical support member, wherein the support member extends upward from the base at a right angle which tends to make conventional bookends bulky. This creates several problems for manufactures and retailers of bookends. For example, bookends typically take up a lot of floor space at the manufacturer's facilities after they are manufactured because of their rigid or formed shape (e.g., an inverted T-shaped body including a flat base with an upwardly extending support member, or alternatively, a corner type bookend). Also, these bulky, formed up bookends also increase shipping and packaging costs because of the increased volume and unused package space resulting again from the rigid shape of the formed bookend. In addition, bookends having a formed shape also take up a lot of storage space at retailers' facilities and are generally not displayed because they occupy too much valuable shelf space.
Some convention bookends are manufactured as flat planar piece and then bend or folded to form a working bookend. In this regard, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,019, “Book End”, issued to Garner, which discloses a one piece folding blank foldable to form a book end having side walls and a base of triangular form, the planes of the side walls and base being normal to each other. However, the bookend described and shown in Garner requires a plurality of bends to form the bookend thereby increasing the time and costs for manufacturing the bookend.
Also, Garner also requires that a pre-fold or fold line be formed in the material of the bookend to facilitate bending of the material during the forming process. This is typically of conventional bookends which are typically manufactured having a bend slot, or scoring, along the bend axis for the purpose of weakening the metal in this area to assist in the bending process. This weakening of the metal to facilitate the bending process increases the time and the cost to manufacture the bookend.
In addition, Garner also includes a cooperating interlocking means for releasably mating in the plane of the connection between the two side walls to secure the panels in position. This cooperating interlocking means also increases the time and cost of the manufacturing process.
Another conventional bookend formed by bending is U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,988, entitled “Bookend for Metal Shelves”, issued to Rouire. Rouire discloses a bookend for use on a metal shelf that is formed by bending a single sheet of metal to form an upstanding plate and flat tongue so that the tongue can lie on the metal shelf with the plate upstanding. However, in Rouire, the bookend is bent during the manufacturing process and does not have a non-operating position wherein the bookend material is stored, shipped, and displayed as a flat planar piece.
A problem with conventional foldable bookend is that is it is difficult to precisely and accurately fold the bookend to ensure the proper operating angle of the formed bookend. Fold lines or scoring of the base metal is typically performed to assist with the bending and to try and ensure the proper operating angle. However, forming a fold line or scoring the base metal tends to weaken the bookend in this area and can lead to premature or early failure of the bookend. In addition, a pre-fold or fold lines do not ensure that the folded bookend will have proper operating angle.
In addition, neither Garner nor Rouire has any type of stiffening structure or any formable gusset to help strengthen the formed up bookend and to help reinforce the final operating angle of the formed up bookend. Accordingly, these conventional bookends do not provide a means for accurately forming the operating angle of the formed up bookend and may not provide sufficient support throughout the full range of loads that the bookend may encounter.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved bookend for supporting items in a generally upright position on a horizontal surface. In particular, there is a need for a bendable bookend that is manufactured as a substantially flat planar piece so that it can be easily and inexpensively manufactured, stored, shipped, and displayed and that can later be bent to form a functioning formed up bookend that can be easily, precisely, and accurately bent into an operating position and that has sufficient strength and reinforcement to positively support a row of books in a generally upright position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a bendable bookend for supporting items in a generally upright position on a substantially horizontal, planar surface. The bendable bookend of the present invention is manufactured, shipped, stored, and displayed as a substantially flat planar piece. Once the bendable bookend has been purchased by an end user, it can be bent to form a bookend having a base and an upwardly extending support member.
The bendable bookend of the present invention includes two positions or configurations. In a first non-operating position, the bookend is a substantially flat
Hoskinson Marlin J.
Jajko Waldemar A.
Lorincz Eugene M.
Moore Push-Pin Company
Novosad Jennifer E.
Stodola Daniel P.
Woodcock Washburn Kurtz Mackiewicz & Norris LLP
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