Page holder for books

A compact page holder device 2 for holding a book 80 open at some selected pages 92, 94. A bundle of book leaves 96 including one of the selected pages 92 extends forward through slot 54, over finger 20, back through slot 52, and under finger 10. A second bundle of book leaves 98 including the other selected page 94 is woven forward through slot 54, over finger 30, back through slot 56, and under finger 40. The interweaving of page holder fingers and book leaf bundles keeps the book and the page holder securely together despite casual handling. Pages may be turned while the page holder is holding the book open by slipping the pages out from under one end finger 10 and back under the other end finger 40.

BACKGROUND--FIELD OF INVENTION 
This page holder invention keeps a book open at any selected pages and 
remains firmly in place while allowing the user to hold the book and to 
turn pages. 
BACKGROUND--DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART 
Several earlier devices for holding a book open to some selected pages have 
been small enough to be portable and to be usable without a tabletop or 
other convenient support for the book holder to rest upon. Three examples 
of such small portable devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,606,042, 
3,604,727, and 4,382,617. 
The wireform device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,617 generally requires two hands 
to turn pages while the device is in place on a book. 
The illustrations of U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,727 show that invention in use 
with a separate book stand. This device may perform satisfactorily while 
the book rests undistrubed on a stationary surface. It tends to slide out 
of place however if the book is moved about and therefore does not work 
well when the book is held in the hand. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,042, shows a device made by cutting and bending a sheet 
of rigid material. It is somewhat more expensive to fabricate than the 
invention disclosured here. 
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
While reading a book held by hand, it is usually most comfortable to use 
both hands to hold the book open to the desired pages. An object of the 
present invention is to hold a book open without obscuring the text so 
that the reader can comfortably and easily hold the book with one hand. 
Sometimes one wants to read a book without holding it at all. This desire 
is usually frustrated by the failure of a conventionally bound hard cover 
or paperback book to remain open at the selected pages. Even when the back 
of a book is "broken" the book will generally not stay open at most pages. 
Another object of this invention is to hold a book open to some desired 
pages while the book rests upon a table or other support. 
This invention has the advantage that the pages of a book can be turned 
easily even while the book is held open by the page holder. Pages may be 
turned with one hand while the book rests on a support. 
An additional advantage of this invention is its simple construction. It 
consists entirely of a single flat piece of stiff transparent material.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
2: page holder 
6: base 
10, 40: end fingers 
20, 30: central fingers 
12, 14 edges of 10 
16, 46: inner corners of 10, 40 
22, 24, 32, 34: edges of central fingers 20, 30 
26, 36: tips of central fingers 20, 30 
42, 44: edges of 40 
52, 56: end slots 
54: central slot 
72, 76: pinched regions of end slots 
74: flared opening of central slot 
80: book 
90: a page 
92, 94: desired open pages 
96, 97, 98: bundles of pages 
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention consists of a flat stiff sheet 
of clear material in the shape of four broad fingers 10, 20, 30, 40 
extending to one side of a common base section 6, roughly like a coarse 
comb with oddly shaped teeth. A central slot 54 is defined by edges 24, 34 
of central fingers 20 and 30. The central slot 54 flares widely at its 
open end 74 as the central fingers 20, 30 taper outward to small curved 
tips 26, 36. An end slot 52 lies between end finger 10 and central finger 
20. Another end slot 56 lies between end finger 30 and central finger 40. 
The finger pairs 10, 20 and 30, 40 approach each other towards their outer 
ends so that slots 52 and 56 have pinched regions 72, 76 towards the open 
ends of those slots. 
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the slots 52, 54, 
and 56 are straight. The central slot 54 is straight and longer than the 
end slots 52 and 56. The ends of the central fingers 20 and 30 taper to 
curved tips 26 and 36. 
Practical embodiments of the invention may be cut from stiff sheets of 
transparent materials. Clear polycarbonate and rigid polyvinyl chloride 
are both satisfactory. Other clear rigid materials may also used. 
Thicknesses in the range of 0.010" to 0.10" may be used. The thickness 
should be chosen so the device is rigid enough to resist the self-closing 
forces of a book. It is also desireable that the sheet be thin so the page 
holder may be stored between the pages of a closed book. 
A practical embodiment of the page holder may be cut from a sheet about 
0.040" thick with a base section about 6 inches long and 1 inch wide. The 
end slots may be about 1/4" wide. The central slot may be about 3/8" wide. 
The end fingers may extend about 11/2 from the base. The central fingers 
may extend about 1" farther. This overall size permits the page holder to 
be can conveniently stored as a book mark between the pages of a typical 
soft cover pocket paperback book. These dimensions also work well with 
books ranging in size from pocket paperback books to large text books. 
Both larger and smaller versions can also be useful. 
OPERATION OF INVENTION 
FIG. 3 shows the page holder 2 in place across the top of a book 80. The 
book and page holder engage in a manner which keeps them mutually engaged. 
Two bundles of pages 96 and 98, each behind one of the selected open pages 
92 and 94, come forward through the central slot 54 of the page holder 2. 
The passage of bundles through the central slot 54 keeps the page holder 
centered on the book, yet thin enough to be sufficiently ductile to 
withstand deformation with use as more particularly described in the next 
section, and to be sufficiently elastic to return to its flat shape on 
storage. One bundle 96 passes over central finger 20 and back through an 
end slot 52 and under end finger 10. The other bundle 98 passes over 
central finger 30 and back through an end slot 54 and under end finger 40. 
The weaving of the bundles 96, 98 over central fingers 20, 30 keeps the 
page holder in place. The placement of the bundles behind end fingers 10, 
40 holds the bundles in place with the selected pages 92, 94 exposed. The 
narrow openings 72, 76 of the end slots 52, 56 provide a pinching action 
which gently grips the bundles. 
A bundle of pages 96 is woven in front of inner fingers 20 and behind outer 
fingers 10. The bundle may be about 1/16" to 1/8" thick. Such a bundle 
presses at inner end 16 of edge 14 of outer finger 10, bending base 6 and 
thereby bending the finger towards the reader and lifts corner 16 of 
finger 10 away from bundle 96. Similarly the bundle of pages 98 lifts the 
free end of finger 40 away from bundle 98. FIG. 8B shows a bent shape 
typically assumed by the invention while installed on a book. 
Because of the page holder's bent shape, the inner corners 16, 46 of outer 
fingers 10, 40 do not lie tightly against the underlying open pages 92, 
94. The curved shape at corners 16, 46 of outer fingers further helps to 
create small gaps between these corners and the underlying open pages 92, 
94 which make it easy to slip pages under these corners as shown in FIG. 
4B. This may readily be accomplished with one hand. Turning the pages in 
this manner only slightly disturbs the page holder on the book as one side 
or the other grips its bundle of pages securely even while the other side 
is being disturbed. 
When a bundle of pages 96 is very loose or very thin, the open page 92 may 
lie behind corner 16 with no gap. Even under this condition it is still 
easy to slip a page under corner 16 as the pressure of the corner against 
the page is low when the bundles is thin or loose. 
In FIG. 5, the page holder 2 is shown installed across the bottom of a book 
80. This arrangement may be convenient when the book is resting on a table 
or other stationary support rather than being held in the hand. This 
bottom installation permits the reader to peek ahead at succeeding pages. 
The forces which the book and the page holder exert upon each other hold 
the page holder firmly in place. Casual handling or movement of the 
combination does not dislodge the page holder. 
A method for installing the page holder on a book is shown in FIG. 6: 
FIG. 6A: A bundle of pages 97 including the desired pages is raised from 
the open book 80. 
FIG. 6B: The page holder 2 is placed over the remaining pages with the 
bundle 97 protruding through the central slot 54. 
FIG. 6C: Bundle 97 is split into two bundles 96, 98. Bundle 96 is inserted 
into end slot 52 and behind finger 10. 
FIG. 6D: Bundle 96 is seated in place with selected page 92 showing. 
FIG. 6E: Bundle 98 is inserted into slot 54 and behind end finger 40. 
FIG. 6F: Bundle 98 is seated with page 94 showing. Pages may then be turned 
as in FIG. 4 to the desired pages. 
An alternative method of installation is shown in FIG. 7. The flared 
opening of the central slot facilitates this method of installation. 
FIG. 7A: The book 80 is opened to the selected pages. 
FIG. 7B: The tip of central finger 30 is inserted at the top of the book 
raising a bundle 98 of several pages including the open page 94. 
FIG. 7C: The tip of the other central finger 20 is similarly inserted 
raising a bundle 96 of several pages including the other open page 92 
raising a bundle 96. 
FIG. 7D: The page holder is pushed further into the book 80 and turned 
while end finger 10 is bent forward to pass in front of the open page 92. 
FIG. 7E: The page holder is pushed still further and turned while the other 
end finger 40 is bent forward to pass in front of open page 94. 
FIG. 7F: The page holder 2 is pushed in further to fully engage the two 
bundles. 
SCOPE OF INVENTION 
While the description above contains many specificities, the dimensions, 
shapes, and methods of fabrication can be changed substantially from those 
specifically described above and still yield a usable and useful 
embodiment of this invention. Accordingly the reader is requested to 
determine the scope of the invention by the appended claims and their 
legal equivalents, and not by the examples which have been given.