Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Card rack – Including apertures – notch or struck-out portions
Patent
1995-10-27
1999-11-23
Davis, Cassandra H.
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Card rack
Including apertures, notch or struck-out portions
401242, 40657, 24563, A47F 700
Patent
active
059877910
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a mounting device for use in the display of a generally flat item such as a photograph, postcard or the like.
Conventionally, such items are displayed by being pinned onto a cork surface or being held against a steel surface by a magnet.
An aim of the present invention, however, is to enable the item to be mounted by a device that is in one piece, does not need ancillary items to be effective and does not damage the item to be mounted.
According to the present invention, a mounting device for use in the display of a generally flat item comprises sheet material formed with at least one gripping portion which is itself formed with at least one gripping slit which is non-linear.
The fact that the grippling slit is non-linear facilitates the retention by the gripping slit of an edge region of the item to be held.
The mounting device is preferably constructed such that the sheet material is a resilient material and/or a plastics material and indeed is preferably formed of polypropylene.
Preferably, a plurality of the gripping portions are formed in the sheet material.
Also preferably, each of the gripping portions is formed with a plurality of the gripping slits, with each of the gripping slits being curvilinear or angular, and inner ends of the gripping slits in each of the gripping portions terminating at points close to one another, or at points spaced from one another to form a common hub.
It is possible for the gripping portions to project locally forwardly of the surrounding sheet material, and it is also possible for an adhesive or other fixing to be provided to enable the sheet material to be itself mounted on a support.
Several embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rudimentary mounting device;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the gripping slit configuration of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view of another gripping slit configuration;
FIG. 4 is a front view of yet another gripping slit configuration; and
FIG. 5 is a front view of a different mounting device, in use, having a plurality of gripping portions, each having the gripping slit configuration of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 6 illustrates a partial cross-section of the invention.
A rudimentary mounting device 10, in accordance with the present invention, is shown in FIG. 1. It is created from sheet material which is pierced through by a number of cuts, configured in a cluster, that allow the sheet material to be locally projected forward, creating thin openings that are also locally projected forward. The cuts constitute a plurality of gripping slits 12, and the cluster constitutes a single gripping portion 14.
As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the cuts are configured in such a manner that they create bands 16 of material separated only by the cuts. The outer ends of the bands 16 are always attached to the surrounding sheet material. The inner ends of the bands 16 terminate at points spaced from one another to form a common hub 18.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the cuts may terminate at points close to one another.
The shape of each cut can be angular, as shown in FIG. 4, not just curvilinear. The cut will always take a circuitous route from the beginning to the end and specifically not take a single straight line. The number of cuts and subsequent bands can be one or more in number.
The openings can be created either permanently or temporarily by selecting an appropriate sheet material, such as a plastics sheet of which polypropylene is an excellent example, particularly PRIPLAK (RTM). Sprung steel, paper or card may also have a suitable degree of resilience allowing the sheet to spring back to a flat plane or to remain projected forwardly of the surrounding surface. The cuts are configured so that the forming of the openings does not necessarily permanently distort or stretch the sheet material or require the sheet material to lose its ability to return to its original flat plane.
The purpose of the openings
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