Abstract:
A paper holder is provided in which the moving parts are shielded as much as possible to avoid injuring an individual using the same. An elastic biasing member for biasing a moving holding member towards a fixed holding member and thereby securing paper is entirely shielded from contact with an individual and is disposed to extend in a direction towards the fixed holding member.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a paper holder for holding paper or the like and in which an individual&#39;s fingers are protected from being caught in moving components during use. 
     A variety of paper holders have been developed for retaining sheets of paper that can be easily seen while operating, e.g., a word processor, typewriter, personal computer, etc. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,183 to Hiromori discloses a paper holder having complementary convex and concave surfaces to retain paper in an upright and somewhat curved state. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,889 to Suzuki discloses a paper clip in which two clamping members are pivotally coupled together and biased into abutment by a spring, with one of the clamping members being additionally pivotally mounted upon a fixed base plate. 
     Paper holders generally have a large number of exposed moving parts, resulting in the danger of unavoidably catching one&#39;s fingers during use. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages and dangers encountered with prior art paper holders. 
     More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper holder which minimizes or eliminates danger of catching one&#39;s fingers in moving components thereof. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to improve retention and clamping of paper in an upright position to be viewed, e.g., adjacent a computer, word processor, etc. 
     It is further object of the present inventor to provide a paper holder which is adapted for different tasks such as brushing away dust particles. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These and other objects are attained by the present invention which is directed to a paper holder comprising two holding members, a first holding member provided with a convex holding surface and a second holding member provided with a substantially complementary concave holding surface, plus a base portion extending from a lower end of one of the first and second holding members. At least one spindle is provided on either the base portion or a wall portion of the holding member mounted thereon and upon which the other holding member is pivotally mounted, such that the pivotal holding member can be pivoted away from the complementary holding member by pushing a portion, e.g., a top portion, of the pivotal holding member. An elastic or resilient member is also arranged to bias the holding surfaces of the first and second holding members together under pressure, the elastic member being structured and arranged to extend in a direction toward the non-pivotal, i.e. fixed, holding member whereby paper situated between the holding surfaces is retained in an erect and somewhat curved state. 
     The elastic or resilient member is structured and arranged to extend in a direction substantially parallel to a bottom surface of the base portion and/or in a substantially horizontal direction (i.e., when the paper holder is placed upon a horizontal flat surface). Furthermore, the elastic member is arranged to move by rotating the pivotal holding member such that when the pivotal hold member is pivoted by a finger and then released, both the elastic member and pivotal holding member move in a substantially circular arc. The pivotal holding member is also mounted upon the base or fixed holding member to completely encompass the elastic member and thus shield the elastic member from contacting an individual&#39;s fingers. 
     The various components constituting the paper holder are compactly arranged and, in a preferred embodiment, can accommodate a brush which can be extended to brush away dust particles, e.g., static particles. 
     Thus, a compact paper holder is provided with a minimal number of exposed, protruding, moving compacts. Therefore, the danger of accidently catching one&#39;s fingers in moving parts of the paper holder during use is greatly minimized if not totally eliminated. Furthermore, reliability and ease in clamping and retention of paper in an upright, easily-viewed position is improved with the inventive paper holder. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be explained in greater detail by way of the accompanying drawings, in which 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paper holder in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view in the along line  2 — 2  in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG.  2  and illustrating the paper holder in retracted (open) position; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the paper holder; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5 and illustrating retention of a sheet of paper by the paper holder; 
     FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the alternative embodiment of FIG.  4  and illustrating retraction of an anti-static brush there into; and 
     FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view in the direction of arrow A in FIG.  4 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings, in which the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals or reference numerals with prime (′) superscripts, the paper holder  1  of the present invention comprises a base  5 , a fixed holding member  4  positioned on the base  5  to extend upwardly therefrom and a movable holding member  3  pivotally mounted with respect to the fixed holding member  4  and base  5 . The movable  3  and fixed  4  holding members respectively have convex  8  and concave  7  surfaces which are substantially complementary to one another. Alternatively, the concave surface can be provided on the movable holding member  3  and the convex holding surface on the fixed holding member within the context of the present invention. 
     The movable holding member  3  is pivotally mounted upon the base through two spindles, only one spindle  6  being illustrated in the perspective views of FIGS. 1,  4  and  5  (the other spindle is positioned on the exact opposite side of the paper holder  1  in a symmetrical manner). Furthermore, the movable holding member  3  is biased into a closed position, i.e., the position where surfaces  8  and  7  are in contact by a resilient or elastic member  60  which can be, e.g., a coil spring. Alternatively, other resilient biasing means, e.g., a leaf spring or slender spring in the shape of a U, can be utilized within the purview of the present invention. As shown in the sectional views of FIGS. 2 and 3, the coil spring  60  is secured at one end about a t-shaped peg  9  mounted upon a rear section  2  of the base  5  and at an opposite end about a t-shaped peg  10  secured to an interior surface of the movable member  3  on an opposite side from the convex surface  8 . 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the movable member  3  can be rotated, e.g., with a finger, against the biasing force of coil spring  60  and in a direction away from the fixed holding member  4  to a position denoted by reference numeral  3 ′ in FIGS. 1 and 3 and illustrated in phantom in FIG. 1. A paper  13  can be inserted between surfaces  7  and  8  in the retracted position shown in FIG.  3 . Then, the movable member  3  is slowly released so that it returns to the initial position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and paper  13  is retained between the holding member as shown in FIG. 5 (please see double headed arrow B in FIGS. 1 and 2 which denotes pivoting directions of movable member  3 ). 
     The components forming the base  5 , fixed holding member  4  and movable holding member  3  can be molded from hard plastic or similar synthetic resin and with each component, e.g., the movable member  3 , optionally molded from clear or transparent plastic. In the illustrated embodiment, the base  5  and rear section  2 /holding member  4  are separately molded as two sections and then joined together by placement of fixing bolts  62 ,  62 ′, etc. screwed into openings through respective legs  11 ,  11 ′,  11 ″,  11 ′″ in base  5  (the screw bolts  62  and  62 ′ are illustrated in FIGS.  2  and  3 ). Additionally, rubber discs  61 ,  61 ′,  61 ″,  61 ′″ are inserted to seal the openings in legs  11 ,  11 ′,  11 ″,  11 ′″ as illustrated. 
     The embodiment of the paper holder  1 ′ illustrated in FIGS. 4,  6  and  7  is identical to the first embodiment supra in all respects, and is additionally provided with an anti-static brush  12  that can be extended and retracted in the directions of the double-headed arrow C in FIG. 4 as shown in the bottom views of the FIGS. 6 and 7 (the bottom molded section of base  5  can be molded from clear, transparent plastic). The brush  12  sits, in retracted position, entirely within an interior compartment defined with the base  5 . A peg  15  affixed to handle portion  14  of the brush  12  protrudes below the base  5  through an oblong-shaped slot  16  therethrough. By simply pushing the peg  15  forward to the right in FIG. 6, the brush  12  can be extended as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7; the brush  12  is simply retracted by moving the peg  15  in an opposite direction. The anti-static nature of the brush  12  helps remove dust off e.g., a computer monitor, keyboards, etc. The screw bolts provided in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 and  5  are realigned in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4,  6  and  7  to allow for accommodating brush  12  within the base  5  of the paper holder  1 ′. More specifically, screw bolts  61 ′ and  61 ′″ are omitted, with additional screw bolts  66 - 68  being provided as illustrated. 
     In the paper holder  1 , 1 ′ of the present invention, the elastic/resilient member  60  is structured and arranged to extend in a direction toward the fixed holding member  4  to bias the holding surfaces  7  and  8  together. More particularly, the coil spring  60  is arranged to extend in a direction substantially parallel to a bottom surface of the base  5  and/or in a substantially horizontal direction. Thus, when the holding member  3  is retracted to position  3 ′, the coil spring  6  also moves by way of rotation in a substantially circular arc and when holding member  3 ′ is released, both coil spring  60  and holding member  3 ′ move in a substantially circular arc (see arrow B in FIGS.  1  and  2 ). Furthermore, the paper holder  1 , 1 ′ is compact with few protruding parts and a generally round, curved appearance. In this regard, the movable, pivotal member  3  is structured and arranged so that the elastic/resilient member  60  remains unexposed at all times. 
     The only exposed moving surface is the clamping surface  8  for the paper. In particular, two flanges, only one of which  63  is shown in FIGS. 1,  4  and  5 , extend downwardly from a cover  64  of the movable member  3  and are mounted upon the respective spindles  6 . Thus, the pivotal holding member  3  entirely covers the compartment in which the moving coil spring  60  is positioned. Reference numeral  65  denotes a gripping surface for a finger to rotate the pivotal holding member  3 . 
     The preceding description of the present invention is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope thereof in any way.