Paper holder

A paper holder has an upwardly opening slot into which ribs project from each side of the slot. The ribs along the two sides are staggered and alternated with respect to each other so that a piece of paper inserted into the slot will assume a corrugated configuration and will accordingly remain upright in a free standing position. The base of the holder has a straight edge along which a measuring scale exists so that the holder may also be used for measuring and marking.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates in general to a holder and more particularly to a 
device for holding paper or similar thin flexible material in a desired 
position. 
It is not uncommon for memoranda to be lost or obscured on a desk or table 
top, particularly when they are written on small pieces of paper. 
Likewise, unless such memoranda are given positions of prominence, they 
are often overlooked. One way to give a piece of paper prominence and 
prevent it from being lost on a desk, is to orient it in an upright 
position, but this is not easily achieved on most desks. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a 
holder for maintaining a piece of paper, such as a memorandum, in an 
upright free-standing condition so that the paper assumes a position of 
prominence in which it is not easily overlooked or lost. Another object is 
to provide a holder of the type stated which corrugates the paper adjacent 
to its lower edge so that the remainder of the paper remains upright in a 
free-standing condition. A further object is to provide a holder of the 
type stated which has a linear measuring scale embodied in it. An 
additional object is to provide a holder of the type stated which may be 
conveniently used as a straight edge. Still another object is to provide a 
holder of the type stated which is attractive in appearance and 
inexpensive to manufacture. These and other objects and advantages will 
become apparent hereinafter. 
The present invention is embodied in a paper holder including a base and 
retaining means on the base for imparting a corrugated configuration to a 
piece of paper so the paper will not bend easily. The invention also 
consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts 
hereinafter described and claimed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring now to the drawings, a holder H (FIG. 1) supports a piece of 
paper P in an upright position on a horizontal surface such as a desk or 
table top, and when the paper is supported in that manner, it is 
prominently displayed on the horizontal surface so that it is not easily 
lost or overlooked. The paper P inserts easily into the holder H and is 
likewise easily removed from the holder H. Only a small portion of the 
paper along its lower edge is engaged by the holder H, and that portion 
which is engaged is corrugated. The remainder is available for notations. 
The corrugations maintain the paper upright in a free-standing condition. 
The holder H includes a base 2 composed of a pair of lateral flanges 4 and 
6 which are of identical external configuration. Each flange 4 and 6 is 
provided with a flat supporting surface 8 (FIG. 3) with the two supporting 
surfaces 8 being coplanar. Inwardly from the two supporting surfaces 8, 
the flanges turn slightly upwardly so that a shallow longitudinal recess 
10 exists in the base 2 intermediate the two flat supporting surfaces 8. 
Each lateral flange 4 and 6 has an outer edge 12 which extends along the 
flat supporting surface 8 for that flange 4 or 6 and is perfectly straight 
so that it may be used as a straight edge. Moreover, the two outer edges 
are parallel and form the outer extremity of the base 2. The flanges 4 and 
6 furthermore have flat upper surfaces 14 which are inclined slightly 
upwardly from the outer edges 12 and hence are located at a slight angle 
with respect to the flat supporting surfaces 8. The upper surface of the 
flange 4 has the British measuring scale inscribed on it, while the upper 
surface of the flange 6 has the metric measuring scale inscribed on it. 
The former, of course, is divided into inches and the normal fractions 
thereof, while the latter is divided into centimeters and millimeters. 
In addition to the base 2, the holder H further includes a paper retainer 
22 which projects upwardly from the base 2 between the two supporting 
flanges 4 and 6. Thus, the flanges 4 and 6 project laterally from the 
retainer 22 and maintain it in an upright position. The retainer 22 is 
composed of a pair of side walls 24 and 26 (FIGS. 2 and 3), which are 
spaced apart a slight distance for most of their length, and also a pair 
of end walls 28 which connect the side walls 24 and 26 at their ends. The 
end walls 28 are flush with the ends of the flanges 4 and 6 and provide a 
squared-off appearance to the ends of the holder H. The side wall 24 
projects upwardly from the flat upper surface 14 of the flange 4, whereas 
the side wall 26 projects upwardly from the flat upper surface 14 of the 
flange 6. The two side walls 24 and 26 are spaced apart so that a slot 30 
exists between them, and the spacing is somewhat greater at the upper end 
of the retainer 22 than at the lower end of the retainer 22 (FIG. 3). 
Hence the inwardly presented surfaces of the two walls 24 and 26 diverge 
upwardly. Preferably the lower end of the slot 30 is about 7/64 inches 
wide, whereas the upper end of the slot should be about 3/16 inches wide. 
In general, for normal paper the slot 30 should not be any narrower than 
about 1/16 inches and not any wider than about 1/2 inches. 
Projecting into the slot 30 from the two side walls 24 and 26 are 
corrugating ribs 32, each of which is beveled along its sides to form a 
somewhat rounded inner edge 34 within the slot 30 (FIG. 2). Near its upper 
margin the inner edge turns outwardly in a gentle curve and merges into 
the side wall 24 or 26 from which it projects near the top margin for the 
side wall (FIG. 3). The ribs 32 on the walls 24 and 26 are equally spaced 
and the ribs 32 on the wall 24 are staggered with respect to the ribs 32 
on the wall 26 (FIG. 2). Thus, along the slot 30, the ribs 32 alternate 
from the one side wall 24 to the other side wall 26. Each rib 32 projects 
beyond the longitudinal center plane of the slot 30, except at the curved 
upper end of its rounded inner edge 34, with the amount of the projection 
being greatest at the lower end of the slot 30 and becoming progressively 
less upwardly therefrom. The maximum projection of each rib 32 beyond the 
center plane of the slot 30 should be between 1/64 and 1/4 inches. 
At the bottom of each rib 32 (FIGS. 2-4) is a spanner 36 which bridges the 
slot 30 and joins the two side walls 24 and 26 on each side of it. The 
spanners 36 prevent the walls 24 and 26 from moving together and thereby 
maintain the dimensional stability of the slot 30. 
The holder H is preferably injection molded from a suitable thermoplastic 
resin. The diverging inwardly presented surfaces of the side walls 24 and 
26 provide sufficient draft angles to remove the mold core which is used 
to form the slot 30. 
OPERATION 
The holder H rests on a horizontal surface, such as a desk top or table 
top, with its supporting flanges 4 and 6 resting on the supporting 
surface. Indeed, the entire holder rests on the planar supporting surfaces 
8 which extend along the undersides of the two supporting flanges 4 and 6. 
When the holder H is so disposed, its retainer 22 is presented upright and 
the slot 30 therein opens upwardly. Moreover, the center plane of the slot 
30 is located perfectly vertical. 
To position paper P, which may be a note or memorandum, in a free-standing 
position, the paper P is inserted into the upper end of the slot 30 and 
moved downwardly. In this regard, the paper P enters the slot 30 with 
relative ease since the slot 30 is quite a bit wider than the paper P and 
furthermore the upper ends of the edges 34 for the ribs 32 are curved 
outwardly toward the walls 24 and 26 and consequently do not interfere 
with the entry of the paper P. Indeed, the curved upper ends of the ribs 
32 deform the paper P, at least at its lower end, into an undulated or 
corrugated configuration (FIG. 2) as the paper P is advanced, since the 
edges 34 of the ribs 32 are located beyond the center plane of the slot 
30. As the paper P descends, the corrugations become more pronounced. The 
paper P is moved downwardly until its lower margin comes against the 
spanners 36 which bridge the lower end of the slot 30. 
When the paper P is fully inserted into the slot 30, the corrugations 
imparted to its lower end are sufficient in magnitude to maintain the 
remaining portion of the paper P in an upright position (FIG. 1). Hence 
the major portion of the paper P projects upwardly above retainer where it 
is displayed prominently and is easily visible. 
Without the paper P, the holder H is conveniently used as a measuring scale 
and straight edge. In this regard, the upstanding retainer 22 serves as a 
convenient grip for holding the holder H while the scale on either one of 
the supporting flanges 4 or 6 is used for measuring purposes or to guide a 
marking implement when a straight line is desired. 
This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the 
example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure 
which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the 
invention.