CONNECTABLE PICTURE FRAMES

CADRE DEMONTABLE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

CONNECTABLE PICTURE FRAMES comprising a backplate, a
faceplate (frame), and connecting pieces. The backplate will have certain
geometric shapes cut or molded out of its perimeter; these spaces will
readily accept the connecting pieces which have been cut or molded to
match the geometric shapes removed from the backplate. The connecting
pieces will be so shaped as to join two backplates by fitting said
connecting pieces into the corresponding spaces on either backplate. The
frame will be held in place by magnetic attraction.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE
DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Connectable picture frame comprising:
a backplate, having certain sections removed from the
perimeter of the backplate;
backplate connecting pieces;
a faceplate; and
means for attaching the faceplate to the backplate;
the spaces left by the sections removed from the backplate will readily
accept the backplate connecting pieces.

2. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
backplate will have geometric sections removed from the perimeter.

3. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claim 1 and claim 2,
wherein said connecting pieces will be so shaped as to join two backplates
together when placed in the spaces left by the sections removed from the
backplate.

4. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein
said backplate will have a metallic strip attached to its surface near the
perimeter.

5. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein
said backplate will have a magnetic strip attached to its surface near the
perimeter.



6. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, and 4,
wherein said faceplate will have a magnetic strip attached to its surface
near the perimeter.

7. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, and 5,
wherein a metallic strip is attached to its rear surface near the perimeter.

8. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6,
wherein the backplate is made of a plastic material.

9. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7,
wherein the backplate is made of a plastic material.

10. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6,
wherein the backplate is made of wood.

11. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7,
wherein the backplate is made of wood.

12. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6,
wherein the faceplate is made of a plastic material.

13. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7,
wherein the faceplate is made of a plastic material.

14. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6,
wherein the faceplate is made of wood.

15. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7,
wherein the faceplate is made of wood.



16. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, and 3, wherein
the backplate connecting pieces are made of a plastic material.

17. Connectable picture frame as claimed in claims 1, 2, and 3, wherein
the backplate connecting pieces are made of wood.

18. Connectable picture frame comprising:
a backplate, having trapezoidal sections removed from the
perimeter of the backplate;
backplate connecting pieces;
a faceplate;
the trapezoidal spaces left by the sections removed from the backplate will
readily accept the backplate connecting pieces; the backplate will have a
metallic strip attached to its front surface near the perimeter, the faceplate
will have a magnetic strip attached to its rear surface; the faceplate will be
held in place by the magnetic attraction to the metal strip in the backplate.

19. Connectable picture frame comprising:
a backplate, having trapezoidal sections removed from the
perimeter of the backplate;
backplate connecting pieces;
a faceplate;
the trapezoidal spaces left by the sections removed from the backplate will
readily accept the backplate connecting pieces; the backplate will have a
magnetic strip attached to its front surface near the perimeter; the faceplate
will have a metallic strip attached to its rear surface; the faceplate will be
held in place by the magnetic attraction to the metal strip in the backplate.

Description

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CONNECTABLE PICTIJRE FRAMES

The present invention relates to CONNECTABLE PICTURE
FRAMES. It will be used to display photographs or pictures in a montage.

Present day picture framing and display techniques do not
allow more than one framed picture to be easily displayed in a montage
fashion. Nearly all of the methods are able to display only one picture and
they utilize difficult framing methods. i.e.: the picture is not easily put intoa frame.

One method comprises removing a piece of cardboard from
the rear of the frame then mounting the picture inside the frame from the
10 rear; covering the back of the picture with cardboard and toe-nailing the
picture and cardboard in tight with nails or staples. This method is not
effective when the frame is made of any other material than wood.

Another type comprises a slot in the top of the frame and
sliding the picture between the frame and a cardboard backing. At times
this me~od may damage the picture and may result in the displayed item
being mounted crooked. Still another method is to join separate ~ame
pieces, usually aluminum, at the corners with flat pieces of right-angled
metal with tapped screw holes in them. When the frame pieces are
connected around ~e picture, the metal pieces are attached and screwed in
20 place. This is fine for larger pictures but very difficult to accomplish for
pictures of smaller width and height.

Such methods and devices have several disadvantages. While
they do permit pictures to be displayed in a single frame, they do not have
easy framing methods and these particular pictures cannot be easily
interconnected to form a montage. It is desirable to have a way of

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mounting and displaying photos or pictures with ease and flexibility. The
present invention relates to a modular yet connectable type of display with
easy framing and mounting of the picture or pictures.

I have invented CONNECTABLE PICTURE FRAMES to
easily display standard photographs or pictures and to be connectable so as
to display multiple pictures in an individually framed montage. The
framing of these pictures is also different from present day techniques
wherein the frame is attached to a backplate via a magnetic strip thereby
eliminating the need for staples, clips or nails.

o The present invention consists of a backplate, backplate
connecting pieces, a faceplate and a means for attaching the faceplate to
the backplate, preferably with magnetic and metallic strips.

In one aspect of the invention the backplate will have
geometric shapes cut or molded out of its perimeter at Gertain locations so
as to allow connecting pieces, so shaped as to be inserted in the spaces left
vacant by the geometric shapes removed from the backplate and join to
another backplate in the same manner. The backplate will also have a
metallic strip so attached to it or embedded in it at a location near the
perimeter of the backplate. The faceplate will be a frame whose rear
surface has a magnetic strip attached to it or embedded in it, so, when
placed on the backplate, it will be attracted to the metallic strip and will
remain in place by magnetic attraction. When joined by connecting pieces,
these faceplates will touch, but not overlap to form a montage.

~ another aspect of the invention, the backplate will have the
magnetic strip attached to or embedded in it and the faceplate will have a
corresponding metal s~ip attached to or embedded in the rear of the

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faceplate. Thereby forming a magnetic at~raction and will affix the
faceplate to the backplate.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the geometric
shapes removed from the backplate will be trapezoidal in shape, having the
shortest parallel side closest to the edge of the backplate. Thus allowing
the connecting pieces to be made of two trapezoidal shapes, with the
shortest parallel sides in the middle of the connecting piece which will join
two backplates when inserted in said spaces removed from the backplate.

The backplate, connecting pieces are preferably made of
o plastic or wood. The connectable picture frame is preferably made of a
hard durable plastic. As this type of material is essentially lightweight and
durable, it will allow this invention to be mounted easily on a wall.

A feature of this invention is its ability to frame and display
pictures easily. As the frame is held in place by magnetic attraction, there
are no special talents or tools required to frame any photo or picture no
matter how small or large. One backplate is mounted on a wall and once
the frame has been removed from the backplate the person will have access
to the back~late and associated connecting pieces. To add another
backplate to one already mounted, simply insert some connecting pieces in
20 the appropriate locations on the mounted frame and attach another
backplate onto the connecting pieces just mentioned. Once the backplates
are joined in this manner, the original frame can be replaced and the new
frame can be placed on the new backplate. As only one frame need be
attached to the wall, no special tools are required to add additional frames
and backplates.

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The invention, as exemplified by a preferred embodiment, is
described with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a frontal view of an embodiment of the backplate,
with geometric shapes removed from its perimeter; and
Figure 2 is an end view of the backplate shown in Figure 1;
and
Figure 3 is a frontal view of an embodiment of the faceplate; ~
and -
Figure 4 is an end view of an the faceplate shown in Figure 3; :
o and
Figure 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the
backplate connecting pieces; and
Figure 6 is a frontal view of the backplate connecting pieces ~ ~
shown in Figure S; and ~ :
Figure 7 is a frontal view of an embodiment of said backplates
connected arbitrarily by said backplate connecting pieces; and -
Figure 8 is an exploded view of an embodiment of ~e
.
connectable frames.

Referring to the drawings, the embodiment of the invention
20 shown, connectable picture frames comprises a backplate 10, connecting
pieces 15 and a faceplate 13, as may be seen in Figure 8.

As shown in Figure 1, the backplate 10 has certain geometric -
sections 11, preferably trapezoidal in shape, removed from the perimeter of
the backplate 10. The backplate has a metallic strip 12 attached to, but
preferably embedded in, the surface ofthe backplate 10.

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Figure 2 shows an end view of the backplate with the metallic
strip 12 embedded in the backplate.

As shown in Figure 3 the faceplate 13 has a magnetic strip 14
attached to, but preferably embedded in, the rear of the faceplate 13.
Figure 4 shows an end view of the faceplate 13 with the
magnetic strip 14 embedded in the rear of the faceplate 13.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6 the backplate connecting pieces
o 15 will be so shaped as to join two backplates together when placed in the
spaces left by the geometric sections 11 removed from the backplate 10. A
further example of this illustration is represented in Figure 8 where a
backplate connecting piece 15 is shown removed from a corresponding
space on the backplate 10.
~: :
As shown in Figure 7, the backplate connecting pieces 15 are
shown connecting three backplates 10 together in an arbitrarily typical ~~ ~
manner. The magnetic strip 14 of each faceplate will be attracted to the ` ~ ~-
corresponding metallic strip 12 shown on each backplate 10.
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Although only a single embodiment of the present invention
has been described and illustrated, the present invention is not limited to
the features of this embodiment, but includes all variations and
modifications within the scope of the claims.




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Representative Drawing