Easel

An easel of the type having a generally planar material prop and a support to maintain the prop at a desired attitude. The support includes a plate which is adapted to be releasably affixed to a surface and a hinge formed of first and second members each having a base and extending legs. Each member base is secured to a different one of the prop and plate in a manner which allows a selective relative rotational movement between the base and the associated prop or plate. The axis of rotation is generally perpendicular to the associated one of the prop and plate. The legs are secured to each other in a manner which allows a selective relative pivoting movement of the members about an axis spaced from their bases.

DESCRIPTION 
Background of Prior Art 
Easels for the support of papers, books, artist's canvases, etc., are known 
to the prior art. Typically, they are formed by a generally planar prop 
for the material to be supported and a support for the prop to maintain it 
at a desired attitude. The supports have included tripods, bases and other 
similar structures and commonly require a horizontal surface upon which 
they may rest. 
Easels for use in conjunction with typewriting are commercially available 
and include a prop and a base, the base being adapted to sit on a desk 
adjacent to the typewriter. No height adjustment is provided by these 
easels nor is a reorientation in attitude possible. Further, their use 
requires a clear surface area adjacent the typewriter. These factors often 
result in less than optimal placement of the materials to be supported by 
the easel and there may be glare problems which are not easily dealt with. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides an easel of the type having a generally 
planar prop for the materials to be supported and a support for the prop 
that allows the prop to be selectively reoriented. A plate is provided 
which is adapted to be affixed to a surface such as a typewriter housing. 
A hinge is formed of first and second members, each having a base and 
extending legs with the bases being secured to a different one of the prop 
and plate. The bases are secured to the prop and plate in a manner which 
allows a selective relative rotational movement between the bases and the 
prop or plate about an axis generally perpendicular to the associated one 
of the prop and plate. The legs are secured to each other in a manner 
which allows a selective pivoting movement of the members relative to each 
other about an axis spaced from their bases. In a preferred embodiment, 
the first and second members are formed of generally identical U-shaped 
members. Fasteners, preferably bolts and wing nuts, are employed to secure 
the elements together. Set-tooth washers, or a similar friction increasing 
device, may be required between all contacting surfaces to assure that a 
desired attitude is maintained when the fasteners are tightened. The plate 
may be secured to the surface to which it is affixed in any desirable 
manner as through the use of an adhesive, for example. Alternatively, the 
plate and surface may be releasably affixed as through the use of a 
fastening system available commercially under the trademark VELCRO.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a back view of a preferred 
embodiment of the present invention including a prop 10 having an 
extending lip 11 (see FIG. 2) which is adapted to accept and support 
materials such as papers, etc. A plate 12 has an adhesion system 13 
applied to one surface thereof, the adhesion system serving to secure the 
plate 12 to a cooperating surface such as the outer surface of a 
typewriter housing. The adhesion system 13 may be an adhesive or, 
alternatively, a reusable adhesion system such as the type commercially 
available under the trademark VELCRO. The prop 10 and plate 12 are secured 
to each other via a hinge generally designated at 14. The hinge is formed 
of first and second generally U-shaped members 15 and 16 which may be 
identical. Each of the members 15 and 16 has a base portion 17 and 
extending legs 18. Each of the bases 17 is connected to a different one of 
the prop 10 and plate 12, the legs 18 of member 15 being secured to the 
legs 18 of member 16, as illustrated. 
The securement of the elements forming the present invention is designed to 
allow a selective relative movement between those elements to provide the 
capability of reorienting the prop attitude. For example, each of the 
bases 17 is provided with a plurality of holes 19 while the prop 10 is 
provided with holes 20 adjacent each vertical edge. A bolt 21 (see FIG. 2) 
may extend from the front surface of the prop 10 through one of the holes 
20 and through one of the holes 19 in the base 17 of member 15 to be 
engaged by a wing nut 22. Tightening of the wing nut 22 will secure the 
base 17 of member 15 to the back of prop 10 in a manner which will prevent 
a relative movement therebetween. However, on loosening of the wing nut 
22, a relative rotational movement between the hinge 14 and prop member 10 
is allowed. The movement is about the axis of the bolt which is generally 
perpendicular to the plane of the prop 10. A similar arrangement is 
provided by bolt 23 and wing nut 24 between the plate 12 and the base 17 
of member 16. Bolts 25 through legs 18 are engaged by wing nuts 26 and, 
when not tightened, allow a selective pivotal movement between the members 
15 and 16 about the longitudinal axis of the bolts 25, which axis is 
spaced from the bases 17. 
As noted above, a tightening of the wing nuts 22, 24, and 26 prevents a 
relative movement between the various elements forming the present 
invention. However, on loosening of those wing nuts, the elements through 
which the cooperating bolts pass may be moved relative to each other--a 
rotational movement between member 15 and prop 10 and member 16 and plate 
12 and a pivotal movement between members 15 and 16. Thus, with plate 12 
secured to a surface, the housing of a typewriter, for example, one or 
more of the wing nuts may be loosened to reorient prop 10 in any desired 
attitude. On tightening of the loosened wing nut or wing nuts, that 
attitude will be maintained until it is again desired to reorient the prop 
10 attitude. Provision of holes 20 in prop 10 adjacent the two vertical 
edges allows for a right-hand or left-hand mounting. Provision of more 
than one hole 19 within the bases 17 allows for a height adjustment in 
accordance with which of the holes 19 the bolt and associated wing nut 
cooperate. By providing multiple holes 19 in each of the bases the amount 
of height adjustment, either upward or downward, is maximized. Plate 12 
may be affixed to the surface in any desired manner and is preferably 
releasably affixed so that the easel of the present invention may be 
removed when it is not in use. 
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are 
possible in light of the above teachings. For example, the legs need not 
have the arcuate configuration illustrated in FIG. 2. Instead, they may 
take any desired configuration. However, the arcuate configuration 
illustrated, within the constraint that the members 15 and 16 are 
identical, maximizes the lateral extension of prop 10 from the plate 12 
for given length of leg 18. It is therefore to be understood that, within 
the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise 
than as specifically described.