Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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APPARATUS FOR INSERTING PICTURES IN AN ALBUM
This invention relates to improvements in mounting
or inserting pictures such as photographs or stamps etc. in an
album and the method of manufacturing same. More
particularly, it relates to an improved means for inserting
articles such as photographs or stamps in an album in a varied
and convenient manner.
Photograph albums have been in existence for
virtually as long as the science of photography, and many
varieties of albums and methods of inserting photographs have
been devised. Nearly all have some disadvantage.
The earliest forms involved a sheet of paper to
which photographs could be affixed by adhesive corners which
fit over the corners of the photograph and had an adhesive on
the back. These, unfortunately, left the photographs exposed
to finger marking and damage and frequently came unglued or
otherwise allowed the photographs to pop out of their fixture.
In more recent times, since the development of
highly sophisticated plastics, numerous developments have been
conceived which allow photographs to be mounted behind a
transparent plastic sheet, which provides protection, but
these usually involve some form of adhesive which requires
that the photographs be permanently mounted on a sheet having
a tacky surface which does not allow the owner to make written
notations.
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Many of these modern substances, including the
plastics or the adhesive, are not "acid-free" and are
physically or chemically harmful to the photographs.
Other devices include double layered sheets of clear
plastic which allow the photographs to be inserted in a pocket
between the adjacent sheets. However, these have the
disadvantage that the pockets are of a fixed size and
configuration and most do not provide any paper or cardboard
surface on which notations can be written.
It is, therefore, the purpose of this invention to
provide means by which photographs may be protected and easily
inserted in an album in a convenient or artistically varied
arrangement.
It is also the purpose of this invention to provide
a mounting means which is protective of the photographs and
does not cause them to deteriorate over time due to physical
or chemical damage.
It is also the purpose of this invention to provide
a means by which photographs of different sizes may be mounted
in different configurations while allowing a space for written
notations adjacent thereto.
It is also the purpose of this invention to provide
a mounting means which is simple, efficient, automated and
inexpensive to manufacture.
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These obj ect and other advantages are intended to be
achieved by the present invention which comprises a pocket
formed from two sheets of mutually rectangular size and
configuration bounded together on three sides and unbound on
the fourth side to present an opening and having a front sheet
which is transparent and a back sheet which has on the outside
thereof a strip of transfer tape providing an adhesive layer
and a removable covering layer. Ideally, in one embodiment
the unbound edge of one sheet is longer than the other so as
to make the opening more accessible.
Preferably, one or more of said pockets are provided
with pages capable of inserting in an album on which at least
one of said pockets may be affixed at desirable locations and
orientations by means of said adhesive once said covering
strip of the transfer tape is removed.
Said pages with mountable pockets may also be
provided with albums in which to be inserted so as to provide
a complete apparatus for storing and preserving pictures.
The invention may be better understood by a
description of one embodiment thereof with reference to the
attached drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a transparent pocket for
receiving a photograph or the like in accordance
with the present invention;
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Figure 2 is a perspective view of the back side of the
pocket in Figure 1 showing the adhesive strip and
transfer tape;
Figure 3 is an alternative arrangement of a file pocket
similar to Figure 1;
Figure 4 shows a photo album page with photographs
mounted thereon by means of the pockets showing in
Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a schematic illustration of the method of
making pockets as shown in Figure 1; and
Figure 6 illustrates a modified version of the pocket in
Figure 1.
In Figure 1 of the illustrated embodiment, a
photograph 2 is shown partially inserted into a mounting
pocket 4 which is constructed of two sheets of plastic
material, at least one of which is transparent, which are
welded together along three sides 6, 7 and 8.
Along the fourth side 10, the edge of the lowermost
sheet 12 extends beyond the edge of the uppermost sheet 14 so
as to make the opening readily accessible for insertion of the
photograph 2.
On the outside surface of the back sheet 12 there
are two adhesive strips 16 and 18 which allow the pockets to
be mounted to a sheet of paper or cardboard material such as
20 shown in Figure 4.
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This adhesive strips are better illustrated in
Figure 2 where the transfer tape 22 which is used to apply the
adhesive 24 to the back of the pocket is shown partially
peeled away.
As contemplated, the pocket would be provided to the
user as seen in Figure 3 with the transfer tape, with an
adhesive on one side, being applied to the outer surface of
the back sheet so that the pockets may be stored or handled
without sticking to each other. The user can then peel off
the transfer tape 22 which leaves the adhesive 24 exposed on
the back surf ace to be f fixed to the sheet 2 0 as i l lustrated in
Figure 4 or applied to the door of a refrigerator or any other
desired surface.
Figure 3 illustrates a pocket 5 similar to Figure 1
in which the adhesive strips are provided in a transverse
configuration instead of the longitudinal arrangement of
Figure 1.
This arrangement of strips of adhesive allows the
pocket to be easily affixed to the page of an album as shown
in Figure 4. It overcomes the difficulties of using photo
adhesive corners for photographs which are difficult to handle
and often come loose. It is also easier than a pocket which
has a complete surface of adhesive on the back as these often
become wrinkled or contain bubbles when they are applied.
They also require a large amount of adhesive and are difficult
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to handle when the adhesive is exposed.
While it is possible to apply a pocket, as
illustrated, to a sheet of an album using a single strip, this
often allows the pocket to lift off the page and become folded
or bent.
Some of the advantages of the illustrated pockets
are apparent in Figure 4 where a sheet 20 of a photograph
album which is insertable or removable by virtue of the ring
holes 26, allows pockets containing photographs to be mounted
in a horizontal configuration as shown at the top or a
vertical configuration as shown at the bottom or in any other
position or angle.
Furthermore the paper sheet 20 allows the owner to
insert titles or notations as shown at 28 if the sheet is made
of conventional paper or cardboard.
Of course, the illustrated pockets may be made in
any size to conform with the conventional size of most
photographs such as 4 ins. x 6 ins., 5 ins. x 7 ins., etc.,
etc. , or a pocket may be trimmed to a smaller size if desired.
All of this allows a collection or arrangement of
photographs or various sizes, shapes and configurations to be
mounted in a pleasing arrangement on a page of an album as the
user wishes.
It is also contemplated that pockets illustrated in
Figures 1 to 4 may be made available in large quantities,
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inexpensively by virtue of the ease of manufacture as
illustrated schematically in Figure 5.
Since the pockets illustrated in Figure 1 are
preferably made of two layers of transparent plastic, the
manufacturing process begins by feeding from a roll of
indeterminate length 30, a first layer of transparent plastic
such as polyethylene or polypropylene (although the latter is
considered preferable since it is not chemically harmful to
photographs and stamps, etc.) into an automated machine 32
while a second layer of the same material is fed from the roll
34 at the same time and the same rate.
In the illustrated schematic diagram of Figure 5,
two layers are brought together through rollers 36 and from
there travel forward in an overlying position.
At position A an advancing mechanism 38 is designed
to clamp the two layers and move them forward (to the right in
the diagram of Figure 5) one space which is approximately the
length of one pocket.
After advancing the sheets one space, the advancing
mechanism releases and returns to its original place to clamp
the sheets again for the next advance.
Once the sheets have been advanced, at Station B, a
heated dye descends as illustrated at 40 and fuses the two
sheets together to form the three sealed edges shown at 6, 7
and 8 in Figure 1. Once the edges have been sealed, the
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heated dye is raised off from the sheets and the advancing
mechanism 38 can push the sheets forward one more space.
Once the sheets have been advanced one more space,
a cutting mechanism 42 shown at Station C cuts the pockets in
the shape shown in Figure 1 and at the next advance stage the
pockets 4 are produced at the outlet end of the machine in a
continuous automated production flow.
If it is desired to provide a pocket in which the
back sheet is longer at the opening than the front sheet
(although it could be the reverse, if desired), this can be
accomplished by feeding the back sheet from a roll 34 which is
slightly wider than the front sheet roll 30. If the dyes are
arranged so that the two parallel bound edges are
perpendicular to the direction of travel, and the third bound
edge is adjacent to the centre line of the sheet material,
this will leave the open edges along the outside edges of the
sheet material where one edge will extend beyond the other
because of the wider material provided for that layer.
In order to provide the adhesive strips 16 a roll 44
of transfer tape 46 is provided with an adhesive substance 24
on one side. The transfer tape is fed with the transparent
plastic film into the rolls 36 with the adhesive side adjacent
to the film 34 so that it adheres to the outside surface of
the backing sheet and travels along with the backing sheet
through the machine at stages A and B and C and appears as
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longitudinal strips on the back of the pockets 4 at the outlet
end of the machine.
It will be realized that if the fusion dyes and
cutting dyes B and C are turned 90 degrees, the pockets will
emerge with the transfer tape in the transverse configuration
as shown in Figure 3 instead of longitudinally.
The transfer tape is a well known product with a low
affinity for the adhesive so that when the adhesive surface is
fed onto the backing sheet it remains sufficiently fixed to
cover the adhesive strip and protect it from attaching to
other materials or collecting dust or lint. However, when the
transfer material is separated from the back of the pocket the
adhesive remains with the pocket and allows the pocket to be
fixed to an album page or other surface. It is also
conventionally known to provide an adhesive which may be
capable of removal and reaffixing if the user wishes to change
its location or position.
To change the shape or size of the pockets it is
only necessary to change the dyes at Stations B and C and
adjust the travel of the advancing mechanism at Station A. It
may also be possible to have two or three production lines as
illustrated in Figure 5, running in parallel, all forming
pockets from a pair of plastic sheets of appropriate width.
Thus, by means of the invention described above, a
large volume and extensive variety of pockets may be produced
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at relatively low cost. The end user, on the other hand, may
be able to afford a large number of pockets which can be
affixed in various orientations and positions to pages of
whatever quality or material is required such as paper or
cardboard, and in whatever colour is required for a
background. The pockets can handle various sizes of
photographs and allows the user a great flexibility in how
photographs or similar articles such as stamps may be arranged
and displayed.
Since the pictures are enclosed within a transparent
pocket (preferably of "acid free" material such as
polypropylene), they will not be exposed to chemicals such as
adhesives.
It is further contemplated that the modified version
of the present invention might be employed in which three
layers or sheets could be employed providing two pockets, the
frontmost adapted to hold a picture visible through a
transparent layer, and a back pocket which could be used to
hold negatives of a photograph or other information about the
Picture.
In addition, if the rearmost sheet is made
transparent (either in the one pocket, two layer system, or
the two pocket, three layer system) and a strip of adhesive
was provided near one edge, preferably the upper edge, the
pocket could hold two pictures, one visible to the front layer
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and the other visible through the rearmost layer if the pocket
is flipped over about the adhesive strip forming a hinge, as
shown in Figure 6.
It will, of course, be realized that numerous
modifications and variations from the illustrated embodiment
may be employed without departing from the inventive concept
herein.
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