Abstract:
A mounted display assembly for easy reader access to printed information is provided. The assembly may include a ring assembly mounted on a spine, where the spine is attached to a wall, vehicle, equipment or instrument. A plurality of transparent display pockets are attached to the ring assembly, or alternately coupled to the spine by a comb binder, a spiral binder, staples, pressure grips, a booklet binding, or other suitable coupling devices known in the art. The display pockets may have slits or openings that permit the insertion and removal of sheets or pages into and from the display pockets.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to a mounted display and, more particularly, to a versatile binder having pockets for displaying papers and flat sheets.  
         BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    Single sheet paper documents and other sheet-like media are often placed in a binder and provided to a work team or as updates or instructions. These loose-leaf documents are easily removed from certain prior art binders, and the binders may be relocated and misplaced. Three ring binders are often used. These binders may have a spine hingedly connected to a front and back cover. A ring mechanism may be secured to the spine, and the papers may have holes sized and spaced to simultaneously each accept individual rings of the ring mechanism.  
           [0003]    Yet users may desire to co-locate a binder with a specific piece of equipment, such as a medical X-ray system or a truck, or to permanently or semi-permanently maintain an informational binder at a specific location, for example near a telephone or a computer, at a work site or an office. The prior art fails to adequately address a long felt need to provide a low-cost, mounted page display system that contains information relevant to a specific location, and wherein the information may in an updated by replacing the sheets. The prior art also fails to substantially meet an addition long felt need to provide a mounted page display system which is aesthetically pleasing, durable, and cost efficiently producible.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0004]    To meet with these and other objects that will be made obvious in light of the prior art and this disclosure, a page display system is that may be mounted onto an external object. A first preferred embodiment may be mounted onto an external object, such as a wall or other suitable structure by means of an attachment feature, such as hook and loop fasteners, adhesives, and/or elongate fasteners, e.g., screws or nails. The first preferred embodiment has a spine with optional binder apertures, and at least two display pockets. The optional binder apertures are sized to enable a fastener to extend through the binder. The pockets may be sized and shaped to accept and protect pages of predetermined size, such as an A10 paper or three-inch by five-inch pages, or eight and one half inch by eleven-inch pages. The pages may be paper or sheets of other suitable material known in the art. The pockets are rotatably coupled to the spine, and in cases of multiple pockets may optionally include reference tabs, whereby a reader may position the pockets to allow for more convenient examination or reading of the pages.  
           [0005]    In certain alternate preferred embodiments, the mounted display system, or binder assembly, may optionally include the spine, the pockets and a ring mechanism. The ring mechanism is mounted to the spine and presents at least two articulated rings to which the pockets are removabley coupled. The spine may optionally include, in various alternate preferred embodiments of the present invention, hook fastener elements, known in the art as touch-and-close fastener elements, or hook-and-loop fastener elements or ‘Velcro’ fastener elements. A preferred embodiment of the present invention having hook fastener elements may be used within a location wherein more than one matching strip of hook fasteners may be positioned to provide two or more alternate sitings for the mounted page display system having hook fasteners. Certain alternate preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise an adhesive on the spine, the adhesive positioned on the spine to allow the attachment of the display system to the external object while allowing the display pockets to be at least partially rotated by a reader.  
           [0006]    In accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the binder assembly may include some or all of the following features: 1) a spine; 2) one or more transparent display pockets, into which pages may be inserted and read from while inserted; and 3) a secondary display pocket, the secondary display pocket for visually presenting a calendar, and/or a signage or information associated with an organization. The organization may be a corporation, and association, a society, or a person.  
           [0007]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the spine may comprise a binder, such as a booklet binder, a comb binder or a spiral binder, to permanently or, in the alternative, semi-permanently and replaceabley, couple a display pocket with the spine.  
           [0008]    In one embodiment, the spine further comprises a plurality of articulating binder rings, each articulating binder ring sized and located to extend through one of the at least two holes of a display pocket, and to hold the display pocket in a display position. Each articulating binder ring includes a fixed section and a movable section. The spine further includes a movable bolt device on which all of the movable binder ring sections are commonly mounted, so to move the movable sections in unison with the movable bolt device, whereby the display pocket may be removed from or coupled with the binder assembly as the plurality of binder rings are opened and closed.  
           [0009]    Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and from the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a front view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention in a closed configuration;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in an open position;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating of a spine of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a front view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]    Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
         [0016]    Referring now generally to the Figures and particularly to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a front view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention  2 , or first assembly  2 , in a closed configuration. The first assembly  2  comprises a spine  4 , a ring mechanism  6  and a plurality of display pockets  8 . The ring mechanism  6  is attached to a front side  10  of the spine  4  and the plurality of display pockets  8  are removable attached to the ring mechanism  6 . The spine  4  has an attachment feature  12  including a plurality of binder apertures  14  and a plurality of elongate fasteners  16 . Optional tabs  18  may be attached to display pockets  8  to enable notice to a reader of the informational content of a page  20 . The spine  4  is attached to an external object  22 , such as a wall by means of the elongate fasteners  16 . Each elongate fastener  16  extends through one binder aperture  14  and into the wall  22 . The elongate fasteners  16  may be metal screws or nails, or other suitable elongate fasteners known in the art. The ring mechanism  6  may comprise a metal or another suitable material known in the art, and has a plurality of articulating binder rings  24 . Each binder ring  24  is sized and located to extend through one of the at least two holes  25  of a display pocket  8  and to allow the display pocket  8  to reside in a flat display position. Each binder ring  24  includes a fixed section  26  and a movable articulating section  28 . A movable bolt device  30  of the ring mechanism  6 , on which all of the movable articulating binder ring sections  28  are commonly mounted, moves the articulating binder ring sections  28  in unison with a movement of the movable bolt device  30  by a user. The movable bolt device drives the movable sections of the articulating binder rings  24  from a closed position  32  of FIG. 1 to an open position  34  of FIG. 2. When the binder  24  rings are placed into the open positions  34 , as shown in FIG. 2, the display pockets  8  may be removed from or coupled with the ring mechanism  6 . In the closed position  32  of FIG. 1 the display pockets  8  are securely coupled with the spine  4  and the display pages  20  may be partially rotated about the a ring mechanism  6  by a viewer to better accommodate viewing of a page  20  when inserted into the display pocket by  8  the viewer. The display pocket  8  may be or comprise a transparent plastic material or another suitable material in the art. Each display pocket  8  defines a display space for holding at least one page  20 , and the display pocket  8  is optionally open on at least one side  36  for inserting and removing the page  20 , whereby the first assembly  2  may protect and present the page  20  for viewing or reading and exhibit with minimal overall weight. Each display pocket  8  may have a slit  38  through which a page  20  may be inserted into or removed from the display pocket  8 . The pages  20  may be sheets of one of the sizes of A10 sheets, eight and one half inches by eleven inches, three inches by five inches, or another suitable shape and size known in the art. The display pockets  8  are sized and shaped to be slightly larger, for example one eighth inch in each critical dimension of height, length and width, to accommodate a page  20  of a predetermined shape and size, whereby the page  20  may lie in a substantially flat position within the display pocket  8 . A transparent display side  40  of the display pocket  8  allows the viewer to read or examine the page  20  while the page  20  is in the display pocket  8 . The spine  4  further comprises a secondary display pocket  42 . The secondary display pocket  42  is capable of holding at least one alternate page  44 . The secondary display pocket  42  is sized and shaped to accept and enclose the alternate page  44  and is open on at least one side  46  for inserting and removing the alternate page  44 . The alternate page  44  may have signage for an organization, such as a logo or trademark a corporation, and a calendar graphic. The secondary display pocket  42  has a transparent window  46  through which the viewer may observe or read the alternate page  44  while the alternate page  44  is located within the secondary display pocket  42 .  
         [0017]    Referring now generally to the Figures and particularly to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a front view of the first assembly  2  shown in FIG. 1 and wherein the articulating rings  24  are in an open position  34 . The rings  24  and a plurality of holes  25  of the display pockets  8  are located to allow the rings  24  to extend through the holes  25  and thereby capture the display pockets  8 . Closing the rings  24 , as per FIG. 1, insures that the display pockets  8  may allow movement of the display pockets  8  within, while simultaneously being constrained, within all three orthogonal geometric dimensions of X for depth, Y for width and Z height.  
         [0018]    Referring now generally to the Figures and particularly to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating a spine  48  of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention  50 , or second assembly  50 . An attachment feature  52  includes an attachment strip  54  of the second assembly  50  that may be or comprise an adhesive strip  56  and/or a hook and loop fabric  58 . The adhesive strip  56  may be used to attach the second assembly  50  to a relatively flat area of wall, equipment, or another suitable external object  60 . In certain alternate preferred embodiments of the present invention, the second assembly  50  additionally or alternately comprises a hook and loop fastener fabric  58 . The hook and loop fastener fabric  58  may be used to detachably attach the second assembly  50  to matching hook and loop fabrics  62  located on alternative external objects  60  &amp;  64 . In other words, the attachment feature  52  may further or alternatively optionally include a hook and loop fabric pair  65  comprising (1) the first mating portion  62  attached to the external object  60  or  64 , and (2) the second mating portion  58  being the hook and loop fastener fabric  58  of the spine  48 , whereby the second assembly  50  may be detachably attached to any one of a plurality external of objects  60  &amp;  64 , such as a motor vehicle, or a wall, or an instrument.  
         [0019]    Referring now generally to the Figures and particularly to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a front view of a third preferred embodiment  66 , or third assembly  66 , of the present invention. A spine attachment feature  68  of the third assembly  66  captures and couples the display pages  8  to the spine  4 . The spine attachment feature  68  may be or comprise a booklet binder, a spiral binder, or a comb binder in various alternate preferred embodiments of the present invention. Where the display pockets  8  are attached to a booklet binder or a comb binder, the display pockets  8  are pivotably and removably coupled to the spine  4 . Where the display pockets are attached to a spiral binder  8 , the display pockets are pivotably coupled to the spine  4 .  
         [0020]    The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.