Abstract:
A book structure having front and back covers bound together along a spine, with pages therein being secured to the back cover by a binder mounted exclusively upon the back cover, separate and apart from the spine.

Description:
The present invention is directed to a new and improved book comprising foldable pages therebetween. In particular, the present invention is directed to a new and improved book comprising foldable maps which provides for facilitated, easy handling by an individual, especially under cumbersome conditions, e.g., while in a moving vehicle. 
     Cartographic material has been provided in a variety of bound forms to improve handling. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,586 to Golson discloses bound cartographic material comprising a plurality of rectangular leaves  12  containing maps, a back cover portion  24  and a front cover  16 , with all components being bound together through ring binding means  14 . The front cover  16  is foldable along an edge  32  into two separate first  20  and second  22  panels, with the structure being designed to facilitate use by a motorist. However, the structure of this map book requires two hands to safely and correctly unfold and examine the maps contained therein, e.g., a hand to flip the various map pages about the binder  57  or  157 . 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved book structure which allows an individual to quickly and securely open and examine the contents thereof and close the same with minimal movement. 
     It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide an improved bound volume of cartographic material that can be expeditiously used in a safe, secure manner with minimal movement, and at the same time, being protected from damage when in use condition. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved collection of cartographic material in which larger areas of cartography can be presented to a user in an easy, safe and expeditious manner, improving dissemination of cartographic information. 
     It is another object of the present invention to facilitate presentation of cartographic information in a safe, expeditious, convenient and inexpensive manner. 
     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a collection of cartographic information which is easy to manufacture and effective to present, thus conserving resources. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These and other objects are attained by the present invention which is directed to a book structure comprising a front cover, a back cover, and at least page divided into at least two panels and being mounted upon the binder to be foldable into the book structure between the two covers and unfoldable out from between the two covers in accordion fashion. The panels preferably contain maps. 
     The inventive book structure is easy to open and close, e.g., with just single hand if necessary, facilitating use under cumbersome conditions, e.g., by a motorist or a passenger in a vehicle. For example, when a vehicle is stopped, e.g., at a red light, the motorist can quickly open and unfold the map to check location and reclose the same in a safe, quick and effective manner. The inventive structure is easy to manufacture with a minimal amount of components and, at the same time, increases the amount of cartographic material that can be presented to an individual over previous bound map structures. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The claim of this patent contains at least one drawing executed in color. 
     The features of the presently claimed invention will be described in greater detail by reference to the accompanying drawings in which 
     FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the inventive structure in closed condition; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the structure shown in FIG. 1 with one page being partially folded out therefrom; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic view, similar to FIG. 3, of a different embodiment of the inventive structure and showing a different page folded out therefrom; 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic view similar to FIG.  3  and illustrating arrangement of a map upon panels forming the folded out page and map index upon an opposite page; and 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic view similar to FIG.  4  and illustrating arrangement of a map upon panels forming the folded out page and a map index upon an opposite page. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a book structure  1  in accordance with the present invention comprising a front cover  2 , a back cover  3  and a spine  5  interconnecting front cover  2  and back cover  3 . In the illustrated embodiments, the spine  5  is connected to the respective front  2  and back  3  covers along fold lines  24  and  25  as best seen in FIG. 1. A binder  4  is mounted upon the back cover  3 , separate and apart from the spine  5  interconnecting the front  2  and back  3  covers. In the illustrated embodiment, the binder  4  is a spiral binder formed of metallic or resilient material that is clipped or wound into respective adjacent perfections mechanism that effectively retains pages  6 ,  6 ′,  6 ″and  6 ″′, etc. upon the back cover  3 , e.g., an adhesive structure, or a wire-O binder or even a plastic (spiral) binder. 
     Page  6 , illustrated in unfolded condition in FIG. 3, is divided into several panels  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10  and  11  connected together along respective fold lines  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  such that the page  6  is structured and angled to be unfolded from the back cover  3  as an accordion; page  6  is simply refolded in opposite direction to become situated between front cover  2  and back cover  3  when the book structure is closed, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Page  6 ′is illustrated in FIG. 3 as a comprising five panels  7 - 11 . However, page  6  may be divided into an infinite number of panels as required. The respective folded lines  12 - 15  extended in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of unfolding/refolding of page  6 . The page  6  and panels  7 - 11  thereof preferably contain cartographic information, i.e., maps. The arrangement of cartographic information in this fashion facilitates use and retrieval of such information under inconvenient or cumbersome conditions. 
     For example, if necessary, the page  6  can be unfolded with a single hand grasping the book, opening the covers  2  and  3  apart from one another, and allowing page  6  to slightly drop and unfold in accordion fashion. The opposite hand which might be situated, e.g., up a steering wheel of a vehicle, can then grasp the outer edge  26  of outermost panel  11  to steady the page of cartographic information. To open the book structure  1 , the cover  2  can be conveniently flipped open and out of the way when the binder  4  supporting page  6  is completely mounted upon the back cover  3 , separate and apart from the spine  5  interconnecting the front  2  and back  3  covers along the folded lines  24 ,  25 . This improves over prior art structures when both front and back covers and interior pages are all mounted upon the binder which forms the spine, or the binder itself is mounted along the spine interconnecting the front and back covers. 
     The binder structure  1 , accompanying pages  6 ,  6 ′,  6 ″,  6 ″′, etc. and front  2  and back  3  covers can be manufactured from paper and/or cardboard-based material. The pages can be formed of clear plastic and, e.g., provided with pockets in the individual panels to contain individual maps. Furthermore. The pages can be formed of laminated paper or other sturdy material to enhance rigidity of each panel and improve handling by an individual. 
     The illustrated embodiment contains three pages  6 ,  6 ′,  6 ″ arranged to unfold and refold in similar accordion fashion. However, any number of pages can be provided in the inventive book structure according to need. FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative arrangement in which an additional page  6 ″′ is divided into four panels  16 - 19  such that two panels  16  and  17  are connected together along a folded line  20  extending substantially perpendicular to an initial direction of unfolding from between the front  2  and back  3  covers and two panels  18  and  19  are respectively coupled to panels  17  and  16  along edges  21 ,  22  extending substantially parallel to the first direction of unfolding and coupled together along a folded line  23  extending parallel to and forming an extension of fold line  20 . Thus, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, page  6 ″′ is first unfolded by moving all panels  16 - 19  in a direction substantially parallel to edges  21 ,  22  (similar to the accordion unfolding of pages  6 ,  6 ′,  6 ″), and then unfolding panels  18  and  19  in a substantially perpendicular direction. Page  6 ″′ may be constructed from similar materials as pages  6 , 6 ′,  6 ″described supra with any number of pages of similar structure be provided as required. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a map is arranged upon the various foldable panels  7 ,  9  and  11  of the accordion-folded page  6 , with the map surrounded by alternating black and white map grid borders. This facilitates ascertaining a particular location upon the map itself. The index for the particular fold-out map illustrated appears on a page  6 ′ on the opposite side of the binder  4 . This index lists the particular grid by abscissa and ordinate (number and letter) where a particular site is located upon the map, e.g., a street, avenue, etc. This arrangement especially enhances ease by which the map can be handled to ascertain directions for travel. The map can be quickly perused with the appropriate index of grid location appearing on the opposite page  6 ′, thus expediting handling and examination of the map to identify location and concomitant direction for travel therefrom and/or thereto. Not only is handling of the map to ascertain directions expedited; by such improved arrangement, danger of vehicular mishap is reduced because location and/or direction can be quickly ascertained with minimal handling of the map. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the map containing the black-and-white grid borders appears upon foldable panels  16 - 19  of page  6 ″′, and the map grid index upon the adjacent page  6 ″ on the opposite side of ring binder  4 . This arrangement also facilitates handling and ascertaining location and directions with the map with minimal effort. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, water is denoted by the color purple, landforms by the color gray and streets by the color white to enhance visual comprehension. 
     The preceding description of the present invention is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope thereof in any way.