CA1194516A

CA1194516A - Clip-on bookmark

Info

Publication number: CA1194516A
Application number: CA000409252A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Andre L. Zeisky
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-08-12
Filing date: 1982-08-11
Publication date: 1985-10-01
Also published as: EP0085105A1; WO1983000463A1; US4436053A; EP0085105A4

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A clip-on bookmark for finding a place in a book is disclosed wherein a substantially planar book marking member has two opposed covers with at least one edge portion with in-dicia, such as advertising message, associated with at least a portion of the covers. Slot means is formed by the marking member along the edge portion and means for removably fasten-ing the marking member to the book is received by the slot means. The incicia may be imprinted directly onto the covers or may be contained on means for receiving the indicia which is laminated to the covers, which may be of transparent, semi-rigid material, such as vinyl plastic. The covers may also form a pocket means for removably holding a card on which the indicia is contained. The fastening means comprises oppo-sitely positioned first and second legs joined at a reverse bend and form an open side opposite the reverse bend. The first leg is mounted in the slot and the second leg is posi-tioned outside the marking member. The legs are spring biased one against the other so that when the spine of the book or pages of the book are inserted between the second leg and the marking member, the bookmark is held in position in part in the book by the bias action.

Description

B~CKGROUND OF T~IE INVENTI3N
-The subject invention relates to a clip-on bookmark that can be fastened onto the spine or pages of a book fox finding a readi.ng place. The bookmark porti.on can be used to di,splay indici.a such as advertising messages or busi,ness i.nformation.
In the pri.or art, bookmarks adapted to be held by a cli.p to books make no provisi.on for contai,nment of adverti.s:i.ng, busi,ness cards, and -the li,ke.
My prior invention, "Apparatus for Holding, Readi.ng and llandli,ng Books", U.S. Patent No. 4,072,407, di,scloses a book~
mark wi,th a pai,r of parallel sli.de members Eor attachment to the spine of a book with an auxiliary slide member for manual movement along the length of one of the slide members.
The subject i,nventi,on i,s di.rected at the promot,;on of adverti,si.ng by businesses, which would be able to use the clip-on bookmark for di,ssemi,nati,ng advertising, promotional, or i,nformati,onal messayes of the type that would ordinarily go on an advertising card or flyer. ~he indicia contained by the clip-on bookmark would have the great advantage oE bei.ng usable i.ndefini.tely and repeatedly.

L5~L~
sRIE:[~ D~SCRIPTION OE~ TllE INVENI'ION

Accordingly, it is an object of the subjec-t inventlon to provi.de a clip~on bookmark for attaching to the spine or pages of a book including indicia associated with -the covers o a marking member that can be used repeatedly and indefini.tely.
It is a further object oE the subject invention to provide a clip-on bookmark that i.ncludes a book marking member ha~ing two transparent covers forming a pocket for recei.vi.n~ advertis-ing materi.al or a business card.
A further object o-f this .inventi.on is to provide such a bookmark which can also serve as a proper clip~
In accordance wi.th these and many other objects, the sub-ject invention provides for a cli.p-on bookmark for a book com-prising a substantially planar marking member having two opposed covers and at least one edge portinn, indicia associated with at least a portion of said covers, slot means formed by said mark-ing member along said edge portion~ and means received by said slot means for removably fastening said marlcing member to the book.
The cli.p-on bookmark further provides means for receiving the i.ndicia where the covers are made of transparent m~teri.al and the means for receiving tbe i.ndicia is laminated -to the porti.on of the covers associated with the indicia.
The clip-on bookmark also provi.des covers made of two transparent sheets that form a pocket means for removably holding the means for receiving the i.ndi.ca.
One embodiment of the subject invention i.s where the edge por tiDn o f th e ma rki ng membs r cle E i ne s d su bs tan ti al l y s trai gh t ~,

-2- ~

first edge of the marking member where the marking member is a unitary portion comprisi,ng a first cover~ a second cover opposed to the first cover and connected to the first cGver along the first edge, a first inner fold posi-tioned between the first and second covers along a second edge opposite and substantially parallel to the first edge, and a second inner fold positioned between the first Eold and the second cover and connected to the first fold along a third edge adjacent and substantially parallel to the fi,rst edge, the second fold being attached to the first fold to form the slot, which is substantially parallel to the third edge.
The subject invention further provides a means for fastening that comprises oppositely positioned first and second legs joined at a reverse bend and having an open side opposite the reverse bend. The first leg is mounted in the slot means and the second leg is mounted outside the marking member. The legs are spring biased one aqainst -the other. Therefore~when the spine of the book is inserted between the second leg and the marking member, the marking member is held in position in part by the bias between the two legs.
The subject invention further provides a first leg that is rotatable within the slot means where the second leg can be rotated and where, when pages of the book are inserted between the second leg and the marlcing means, the mar]cing member is held to the book in part by spring bias action betw_en the two legs.

The fastening means or clip may be made of a flat metal strip, the fl,at si.des of which bear ayainst the inner surface o~ the slot means to maintain the fasterling means in place, either in an outward or inward posi,ti.on. The slot may be made wide enough to accommodate the clip when folded i.nwardly, so that the bookmark can be conveni.~ntly ca.rried in a wallet.
The first leg in the slot can be curved so that it is held in the slot in part by the force of the pressure o~ the first leg against the sides of the slot.

DFSCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
. . ~ , FIG. 1 is a perspective v~ew of the clip-on bookmark shown clipped to the spine of a book.
FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the bookmark t~ken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1 with the marking member having four folds.
FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view of the bookmark taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a detailed secti.onal view of the bookmark tak~n along line 4-4 in FIGo 2~
FIG. 5 is a p~rspective view of the bookmark clipped to the pages of a book.
FIG. 6 i.s a sectional side view of the bookmark taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a sectional si.de view of the bookmark taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the bookmark with .two tran~parent covers with the fastener having reverse bends at its ends.
FIG. 9 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. B.

FIG. 10 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 8.
FIG. 11 is a detailed sec-tional view of the bottom of the clip in the slot showi.ng an alternate embodiment for re~
taining the clip in the slot.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the bookmark having trans-parent covers forming a pocket for receiving indicia such as contained on an advertising card.
FIG. 13 is a top view of the four ply marking member il-lustrated in FIG. 2.
FIG. 14 is a t.op plan view of another embodiment of this invention in whi.ch a data card is held between the outer covers.
FIG. 15 is a top plan view in cross-section of another embodiment of this invention in whic}l the clip member is made of a flat melnber.
FIG. 16 is a top plan view of another embodiment of this invention i.n which the clip may be slipped within the slot portion of the bookmark of this .invention.
FIG. 17 is a sectional view of another embodi.ment of the lower portion of the clip member fastened within the slot.
FIG. 18 is another embodiment of this invention i.n which the clip member comprises two double hook confi.gurations.
FIG. 19 is a seGtional vi.ew of another embodiment of the lower porti.on of the clip member wi.th an enlarged encl protruding beyond the slot. .
DET~II,ED DESCRIPTION OF T~IE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The subject invention, clip-on bookmark 11, i.s i.llustrated i.n the perspecti.ve vi.ew of Fi.g. 1 as it is used to Ei.nd a place in a book 13. Bookmark 11 comprises a substanti.ally planar marking member 15, shown po,siti.oned between page 17 of the book marking the page last read by the reader, and a fastening means , 19 mounted to member 15 al.ony outsi.de edye 16 for fastening the member to the book. Member 15 is shown for purposes of exposi-tion as rectangular but it may of course have various configura- ¦
ti.ons. Fastener or clip 19 is i.llustrated being clipped to the spine 18 of the book, but it may also be clipped to the pages of the book as wi.ll be described later. Member 15 includes two opposed covers 21 and 23. Visual material, or indic.ia, 25 is associated with either or both covers and can be observed by the reader when the book is opened and the bookmark is exposed.
The i.ndicia can be advertising matter, business information, symbols/ designs, or any other such material as desi.red. In-dicia is illustrated as indicated by X's on the covers in Figs. 1 and 12. The indicia can be imprlnted directly on cov-ers 21 and 23, or, as will be descri.bed below, when the covers are of transparent, semirigid material such as vinyl plastic, the indicia may be laminated to the covers or inserted between the covers on a separate card.
Addi-ti.onally, a data card on a plurality of separate pages may be carried between the covers. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 14 whi.ch shows data card 140 fixedly attached alony one edge to the covers 141 and 142 so as to be held therein. Still further, a plurality of separate pages may be carried between the covers by attachi.ng the pages at their spine between the covers 141 and 142. The covers may be made of a thin metal or a metalized plasti,c to ensure long life and to provi,de protection for the material carr.ied therebetween.
Figs. 2 and 13 illustrate a preferred embodiment of the subject invention. Marklny member 15 is shown as constructed from a unitary portion formed i,nto four plys or layers.

!

first cover 27 and a second cover 29 are analagous to covers 21 and 23 in Fiy. 1. Second cover 29 and i.s connected to it along substantially straight first edge 31, which is shown adjoining book spine 18. Cover 21 is positioned behind cover 23 in Fig. 1, and cover 29 is positioned behind cover 27 in the sectional view in Fi.g. 2; covers 21 and 29 are indi~
cated by numerals at their edges. Covers 27 and 24 are illus-trated in the top view of the markiny member in Fi.g. 13. A
first inner fold ~3 is positi.oned between the first and sec-ond covers and is connected to the first cover along second edge 35, which is opposite and substantially parallel to first edge 31. A second inner fold 37 is positioned between first fold 33 and second cover 29 and is connected to fi.rst fold 33 along third edge 39, whi.ch is adjacent to and substantially parallel to i.rst edge 31. Second fo].d 37 is a short fold ending at edge 39. Second fold 37 is attached to Ei.rst fold 33 at connecting poi.nt 34 to form slot means 41 with outside edge 31, whi.ch is here the same as first edge 31. Slot means 41 is for mounting or holding fastening means 19 to marking mem-ber 15. Second fold 37 is attached to f.irst fold 33 to form the slot means by means of staples 43, which are placed to-wards the top and bottom of the marking member, thus forming the channel or slot for containing the fastening means. The illustrati.on in Fig. 2 has first cover 27 and first inner fold 33 removed showi.ng only the staples that connect fold 37 to fold 33; fasteniny means or clip 19 is mounted in the position it assumes in relation to slot 41.
The unitary portion illustrated ln Fig. 2 can be constructed !, all in one p:i.ece by cast or molc]cd plastic or other sui.table material and from a si.ngle sheet of semirigid material such as paper, cardboard, v;.nyl plast.ic, thin metal or matalli.zed plastic by foldiny it i nto four sections, three o -them approxima-tely equal, namely first cover 27, adjacent second cover 29, and first inner fold 33 adjacent to first cover 27. Second inner fold 37, the remaining fourth section, which is adjacent -to first fold 33, is only slightly wider than slot means 41.
First fold 33 is laid across first cover 27 and second fold 35 is pressed against the first fold. Slot 41 is then formed by attaching second fold 37 to first Eold 33 at the slo-t width generally parallel to edge 31 by means of staples, gluing, bonding, or any other suitable method. The inside of second cover 29 is then attached to the exposed adjacent sides of first and second folds 33 and 27 by gluiny, bonding~
or other such method. Thus a single bookmarker is formed.
Covers 27 and 29 analagous to ~irst and second covers 33 and 37 can contain indicia directly imprinted on at least a portion of them or each may be made of transparent, semi-rigid material, such as vinyl plastic and have the indicia laminated to each of them.
Fastener means 19 is illustrated in Figure 2 as first leg 45 and second leg 47, which are positioned opposite one another, that is, are coplanar, and substantially parallel to one another. As illustrated, leys 45 and 47 are cylindr;cal, that is, circular in cross-section, but other configurations will be described below. The two legs are joined at reverse bend 49 and also form open side 51 of the fastener substanti- !
ally opposite bend 49~ First leg 45, which is illustrated as being longer than leg 47 for purposes of exposition, is mounted in slot 41, and second leg 47 is mounted outside of 4~

marking member 15. In Figure 2, leg 47 is shown clipped over book spine 18. Legs 45 and 47 are preferably spring biased one against the other, whereby when book spine 18 is inerted between second leg 47 and marking member 15, khe bookmark 11 is held in position in the book in part by the force of the bias action between legs 45 and 47.
A detai.l of membe.r 15 is illustrated in detail in Figure

3 positioned between pages 17 of book 13. Firs-t leg 45 and second leg 47 are shown along with first and second covers 27 and 29 and first and second fol.ds 33 and 37. Book spine 18 is located between leg 47 and marking member 15. First edge 31 and third edge 39 are shown adjacent to book spine 18.
Slot 41, which holds leg 45, is formed in part by attachment of fold 33 to fold 37 via staple 43. Other attaching methods are of course possible.
Figure 4 further illustrates leg 45 within slot 41 hut even further locked into position by staples 43 mounted on both si.des of the leg, further aiding i.n keeping fastener 19 in position.
A variation of the subject invention is illustrated in Fi.gure 5, which shows marking member 15 positioned between the pages of the book with second leg 47 of fastener 41 ro-tated to a side position wherein the leg grips pages 17 of the book rather than the spine ~s shown in Figure 1. To ac-compli.sh this position, leg 45 must be rotatable in slot 41.
For this purpose, it. is noted that leg 47 preferably be circular in cross-section.
Another embodiment oE the subject invention is illustra-ted in Ei.gure fl. Here covers 21 and 23 are made of transparent material such as vinyl plastic with indicia 25 either laminated to the covers or imprinted directly onto the covers. Slot means 41 ;.s shown formed by the two covers, exterior cover connecting portion 53 and interior connecting portion 54, ~hich can be made of any suitable material for joining the two covers but is preferably of translucent material and joined to the covers by a suitable method such as heat hondi.ng.
Exteri.or connecting portion 53 is likewise preferably of clear vinyl plastic or similar transparent, semirigid material and heat bonded to covers 21 and 23.
Figure 8 also illustrates a projecting portion 55, which is prelerably round, that narrows slot 41 and neck 57. F;.rst leg 45 has fi.rst leg end 59 toward open side 51, and, with first reverse curve 61 at the first leg end, end 59 is swung toward closed reverse bend 49, thus tending to cause end 59 to catch against projecting portion 55 and thus to aid in keeping leg 45 in position in the slotO Leg 45 is shown as circular in cross-section, thus aiding in its rotatability, but it may be of another configuration in cross-section, such as rectangular.
Second ley 47 in another embodiment has leg end 63 turned away from second reverse curve 65 at open side 51.
Because reverse curve 65 is smooth, i~ is less likely that leg end 63 will catch agai.nst the spindle or pages of the book.
Fi.gure 11 shows another embodiment for maintaining leg 45 in position in the slot. In particular, the lower part of leg 45 has an annular groove 111 forrned therei.n wh.i.ch bears ayainst retaln:ing members 112-113 which are attached 5~ 1 to the sides l:L4 and 115 of the slot. In th;.s fashion, the leg 45 is prevented from riding up .in the slo-t.
Figllre 9 illustrates details of'legs 45 and 47 and covers 27 and 29 shown with connector 54 at outside edge 16. F;ller 67 is preferably of transparent, semi-rigid material and fixed to covers 27 and 29 by a suitable method such as heat bonding to form a portion of the innex support means of slot 41, al-though other constructions are of cou:rse possible. Further , ~etails of legs 45 and 47 with filler 67 and projecting portion 55 are illustrated in ~igure 10.
An embodiment of the subject invention with a slide-in pocket 69 formed by translucent material covers 71 and 73, analagous to covers 21 and 23 of Figure 1, is illustrated in ~Figure 12. Pocket 69 includes card entry means for receiving card 75, which has indicia 25 in the form of a business name and address or an advertising message, for exampl.e, contained on at least a portion of one or both of its sides. Fasten-ing means 19 is contained in slot 41, which is sealed along slot edge 79 by anyappropr;.ate method such as heat bonding of covers 71 and 73~ Outside edge 16 is likewise sealed to form the opposite side of slot 41.
Figures 15 and 16 illustrate other embodiments of this invention in which the clip 19 i.s made of a flat metal strip 150. Due to the flat side surfaces 152 and 153 of clip 19, the cli.p will be held in either its open or closed positi.ons merely by the flat surEaces bearing against the flat i.nner surfaces 154 and 155 of slot 156. Clearly, rotating the clip is more di,fficult when a rectangular cross-section is used Eor the cli.p, but the cli.p is more fixedly held in i.ts de-si,red positi.ons.

Figure 16 shows the slot 161 being made large enough to accomodate the clip when it is not in use. The clip 19 is turned to its inward position, is slid upwardly to allow leg 47 to be above the top of the slot allowing the clip to be slid into the slot. This allows -the bookmark to be conveniently carried in a wallet or the like with projecting ends of the clip being exposed.
Figure 17 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the lower portion of leg 45 held in the slotO The lower portion comprises a plurality of barbs 171, 17Z which fit into the mou-th of an upwardly extending spring hook receptacle 173 adapted to selectively lock onto one of the notches to prevent upward slippage of the clip.
Figure 18 is a side sectional view of yet another embodiment of this invention in which the clip is provided as double sided 182. This enables the bookmark to be used by attaching the top or bottom clip to the clipped page without concern for ensuring that the bookmark is in its upright position. Additionally, use o the double hook configuration prevents the hook from sliding out from the slot when used with a springhook.
Figure 19 is a side sectional view of yet another embodiment I
of this invention in which the clip 184 is provided with an en- ¦
larged end 184 so tha-t i-t is inhibited from being withdrawn through the slot when in use.
In summary, there is provided a slip-on bookmark for marking ¦
a place in a book, the bookmark being capable oE being slipped onto the spine or the pages of the book. The bookmark carries advertisin~ or business messages or any other visual material that is inscribed directly onto the outer covers of the bookmark, is laminated to covers of transparent material or is imprinted onto a card that is insertable into a pocket formed by transparent covers of the bookmark. A data card or one or more pages may also be held between the covers.

5~ 1 The bookmark is aided in being held in position be-tween the pages of the book by a fastening,member or clip that is mounted in a slot on an edge portion of the book marking mem-ber, the slot being formed by the marking member itself. The fastening member preferably comprises an inner leg held i.n the slot and an outer leg outside the slot, the two leys being spring biased and joined at a reverse bend and ha~ing an open, unjoined portion at the opposite side. The spi.ne of the book can be inserted between the outer leg and tbe marker, which is held to the hook in part by bias action. Also, the inner leg can be allowed to rotate thus allowing the outer leg to swi.ng to one si.de so that the pages o the book can be inserted between the outer leg and the marker thus aiding in holding the marker i.n the book. The clip may be made of a pin (cir-cular cross-secti.on) or a flat sheet (rectangular cross-secti.on) of metal as described herein.
The i.nner leg oE the fasteni.ng member can be curved to press against the side of the slot and aid in holding the book- !
mark in posi-tion Also, the end of the inner leg can be curved so that the end of the leg is positioned to catch against a projecti.ng portion of the slot so as to aid in holding the fasteni.ng means in position inside the slot. Several other embodi.ments are shown holding the sli.p in the slot. ~ddi-tionally, staples can be used to clip the inner leg into posi-ti.on in the slo-t or notches can be employed. The slot for hol.d.i.ng the fastening means has -two substantially parallel sides located along the edge porti.on of the marker. The edge portion may be substantially straight or any other con-fi.yuratlon. The sides of the slot are formed by any 5~ 1 appropriate mean~; being stapled, heat bonded, or of one piece with the covers.
The clip may be ~lipped outwardly or inwardly. In its inward positionS it may be stored in a wallet or the like, and an embodi.ment is illustrated in which the cli.p is hid withi.n the slot. When it is in its inward position, it may be used as a paper clip when used apart from a book.
The cli.p-on bookmark allows messages to be displayed to the user many times, that is, each time the book is opened.
In advertising material the repeat exposure is much greater than rnost other throw away forms of advertising. The clip-on book-mark i.s, in additi.on, very inexpensive in view of its repeat use potential. The outer covers may be made of a thi.n attrac-tive me~al, such as silver, brass or gold or as a metallized plastic.
Although the subject i.nventi.on has been described in con~
nection with preferred embodiments, it wi.11 be apparent to those skilled in the art that additlons, modifi.cations, and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

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

1. A clip-on bookmark for a book comprising a sub-stantially planer marking member having two opposed covers and at least one edge portion, indicia associated with at least a portion of said covers, slot means formed by said marking member along said edge portion, and fastening means received by said slot means for removably fastening said marking member to the book, wherein said fastening means for fastening comprises a unitary member comprising oppositely positioned first and second legs joined at a reverse bend and having an open side opposite said reverse bend, said first leg being mounted in said slot means and said second leg mounted outside said marking member, said legs being spring biased one against the other, whereby when the spine of the book is inserted between the second leg and the marking member, the marking member is held in position in part by bias action between the two legs, and said unitary member being shaped and rotatable about said slot means to move said second leg to an outer position to mark pages of the book and to an inner position to shield said second leg against said marking member, said second leg being alternatively resiliently biased toward one of said inner and outer positions, said slot means formed of a resilient plastic material extending along said edge portion, said first leg being inserted between the facing surfaces of said slot means bowing said facing surfaces to accommodate said first leg, said first leg comprising means to bear against said facing surfaces, said facing surfaces resiliently biased against said means to bear of said first leg to resiliently maintain said second leg in said inner and outer positions.

2. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, further including means for receiving said indicia and wherein said covers are made of transparent material and said means for receiving said indicia is laminated to said covers.

3. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, further including means for receiving said indicia and wherein said covers are two transparent sheets forming a pocket means for removably holding the means for receiving the indicia.

4. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said edge portion defines a first edge, wherein said marking member is a unitary portion comprising a first cover, a second cover opposed to said first cover and connected to said first cover along said first edge, a first inner fold positioned between said first and second covers and connected to said first cover along a second edge opposite and substantially parallel to said first edge, and a second inner fold positioned between said first fold and said second cover and connected to said first fold along a third edge adjacent and substantially parallel to said first edge, said second fold being attached to said first fold to form said slot, said slot being substantially parallel to said third edge.

5. The bookmark as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first leg is curved, said slot means comprises opposite facing sides whereby said first leg is held in said slot means in part by force of pressure of the first leg against the facing side of the slot means.

6. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said first leg has a first end positioned in said slot means, said first leg having a first reverse curve at said first end wherein said first end is oriented toward said reverse bend, and wherein said slot means further includes a projecting portion adjacent to said first end, whereby the first leg is aided in being held in position in the slot means by catching action of the first end against the projecting portion.

7. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said second leg has a second end at said open side, said second leg having a second reverse curve at said second end, whereby said second reverse curve is smooth and less likely to catch against the pages spine of the book.

8. The bookmark claimed in claim 5, wherein said fasten-ing means comprises a substantially flat member.

9. The bookmark claimed in claim 5, wherein said fasten-ing means comprises a cylindrical member having a substantially circular cross-section.

10. The bookmark claimed in claim 8, wherein said fasten-ing means comprises a longer leg segment terminating in a plur-ality of notches, said slot comprising a barb which fits into at least one of said notches of said longer leg to hold said fasten-ing means within said slot.

11. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said slot means comprises a width larger than said fastening means, whereby said fastening means may be hidden within said slot means.

12. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said book-mark further comprises at least a single sheet fastened between said covers.

13. The bookmark claimed in claim 12, wherein said book-mark further comprises a plurality of sheets fastened between said covers, said sheets being coextensive with said covers.

14. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said covers are made of a metal material.

15. The bookmark claimed in claim 1, wherein said fasten-ing means comprises a double ended hook member, each end of said hook member cooperatively capable of holding said marking member to the book.