Books – strips – and leaves – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-24
2001-06-19
Wellington, A. L. (Department: 3722)
Books, strips, and leaves
Miscellaneous
C281S015100, C281S017000, C281S034000, C283S063100, C283S117000, C446S072000, C446S073000, C446S074000, C446S369000, C446S327000, C446S329000, C446S372000, C446S395000, CD21S483000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247730
ABSTRACT:
This specification relates to a book, and also to a book construction.
Encouraging children to read books and to become familiar with the use of books is a very laudable desideratum. The present invention is aimed at providing a new format for the printed word which is likely to appeal to children.
According to the invention, there is provided a book having two covers which close to form a shape which has an external appearance resembling the head of a creature, with eyes and a mouth, wherein the two covers are joined to one another along a minor portion of the circumference, and are connected along the remaining portion of the said circumference by a releasable fastener such that said remaining portion of the circumference forms said mouth, and wherein the pages of the book can be accessed by releasing the fastener and hinging open the two covers about the minor portion of the circumference.
In the above, the term ‘creature’ includes not only animate creatures such as people and animals, but also inanimate objects such as spaceships or helicopters.
Making a book which has a secondary play value as a toy means that there can be two reasons for purchasing the item; first for its ‘educational/instructional’ value as a book, and secondly for its ‘play’ value as a toy.
The two covers are preferably hinged to one another and can be fastened together to close the book by means of a releasable fastener, such as a zip fastener, hook and loop fasteners (such as Velcro), buttons and buttonholes or the like.
The book can be generally spherical in shape, and approximately the size of a tennis ball, i.e., having a maximum external dimension of 100 millimetres. The spherical shape may be a somewhat flattened sphere. It is convenient if the book fits into the palm of a child's hand.
However larger dimensions can be used, and shapes other than spheres can be used. Appendages relevant to the creature being portrayed may be included. For example a book with covers in the form of a fish may have fins attached to the cover, or the eyes may be covered by (or represented by) a pair of sunglasses.
The two covers of the book are preferably closed by a fastener which extends around the remaining portion of the circumference through approximately 300 degrees of arc, with the minor portion of the circumference forming a hinge by which the two covers are joined.
The book preferably has means by which it can be attached to an external loop, for example a person's belt loop or an eye on a rucksack or similar. This attachment means may be a conventional lanyard clip, and can be attached to a zip slider or attached to a dedicated loop sown onto the surface of the book.
The insides of the two covers may have means for securing the first and last pages of the book so that when the covers are opened, the pages of the book are opened.
The book may be permanently fixed inside the covers or may be removable.
The peripheral shape of the book preferably corresponds to the peripheral shape of the covers, and the size of the book is such that it can be accommodated within the covers without distorting the external shape of the covers. The pages of the book are therefore likely to be very much smaller in total volume than the volume of the covers. The pages of the book will preferably be designed specifically to fit within covers of a specific shape.
The front and back covers are preferably faced in a fabric and filled with a compressible filling.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 368489 (1996-04-01), Gray
patent: 3715816 (1973-02-01), White
patent: 4434536 (1984-03-01), Schmidt et al.
patent: 4832648 (1989-05-01), Theobald et al.
patent: 4874340 (1989-10-01), Smallwood
patent: 4909542 (1990-03-01), Marks
patent: 5059149 (1991-10-01), Stone
patent: 5472364 (1995-12-01), Castleman
patent: 5749764 (1998-05-01), Bailey
Couchman Simon Peter
Henderson Barrie John
Henderson Mark T.
Howell & Haferkamp L.C.
Top That Publishing plc
Wellington A. L.
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