Picture frame

A picture frame comprises a frame, a back plate, a face plate, and a base. The frame of iron material provides an ornamental border surrounding a picture intended to be displayed. The back plate is made of a soft magnetic plate and is attached to one side of the frame by virtue of its magnetism. The face plate of transparent material is kept between the frame and the back plate in such a manner that it permits a picture intended to be displayed to be placed between it and the back plate. The base made of a flat plate is provided thereon with a retaining portion made up of a left retaining strip, a right retaining strip and a middle retaining strip, each of which is arranged in such a manner that it forms a predetermined angle with the base. The left and the right retaining strips are aligned, while the middle retaining strip is arranged slightly toward the rear side of the base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a picture frame, and more particularly to 
a magnetic picture frame. 
A desktop picture frame of prior art is generally composed of a frame 
containing a transparent glass and a back plate, between which a picture 
intended to be displayed is kept. The back plate is provided with four 
positioning blocks, each of which can be rotated at will for an angle of 
90 degrees so as to permit the back plate to be positioned securely. The 
back plate is further provided with a support leg to keep the picture 
frame from falling and to allow the picture frame to stand on the desk in 
such a manner that it forms a desired angle with the desk top on which it 
is placed. 
Such prior art picture frame described above is defective in that its back 
plate must be removed by rotating each of the four positioning blocks for 
an angle of 90 degrees each time when one wishes to display another 
picture, and that it does not always fit the picture having a rectangular 
shape. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore the primary objective of the present invention to provide a 
picture frame with means permitting a person to replace a picture to be 
displayed conveniently. 
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a picture frame 
which can be used to display a picture in a longitudinal or horizontal 
manner. 
In keeping with the principles of the present invention, the objectives of 
the present invention are accomplished by a picture frame, which comprises 
a frame, a back plate, a face plate, and a base. The frame of iron 
material provides an ornamental border surrounding a picture intended to 
be displayed. The back plate is made of a soft magnetic plate and is 
attached to one side of the frame by virtue of its magnetism. The face 
plate of transparent material is kept between the frame and the back plate 
in such a manner that it permits a picture intended to be displayed to be 
placed between it and the back plate. The base made of a flat plate is 
provided thereon three retaining strips of protruded construction, each of 
which forms a predetermined angle with the surface of the base. The left 
and the right retaining strips are aligned, while the one in the middle is 
arranged slightly toward the back side of the base. These retaining strips 
jointly form a retaining portion. 
The objectives and the features of the present invention will be better 
understood by studying the following detailed description of a preferred 
embodiment of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings 
provided herewith.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a picture frame embodied in the present 
invention is shown comprising a frame 10, a back plate 20, a face plate 
30, and a base 40. The frame 10 of iron material is rectangular in shape 
and is provided with a space intended to keep a picture to be displayed. 
The back plate 20 is a magnetic flat plate made from soft material and 
provided with cut-outs 21 and 22 located respectively at the center of the 
bottom edge thereof and the left edge thereof. The face plate 30 is of a 
transparent flat plate of plastic material and is disposed between the 
frame 10 and the back plate 20. The picture intended to be displayed is 
kept between the face plate 30 and the back plate 20. Like back plate 20, 
the face plate 30 is provided with cut-outs 31 and 32 corresponding in 
location and shape to cut-outs 21 and 22 of the back plate 20. The base 40 
is of flat construction and is provided thereon with three retaining 
strips 41, 42 and 43, each of which forms a predetermined angle with the 
surface of the base 40. The left and the right retaining strips 41 and 42 
are aligned, while the middle retaining strip 43 is arranged slightly 
toward the rear side of the base 40. These three retaining strips 41, 42 
and 43 jointly form a retaining portion 44 for use in holding the frame 
10. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the frame 10 can be kept in an upright position 
by the retaining portion 44 of the base 40. As a result, the left and the 
right retaining strips 41 and 42 remain in front of the frame 10, while 
the middle retaining strip 43 remains behind the frame 10. In other words, 
the frame 10 is retained securely in place by these three retaining strips 
41, 42 and 43 in such a manner that it forms a predetermined angle with 
the base 40. The picture intended to be displayed is then sandwiched 
between the face plate 30 and the back plate 20. The face plate 30 and the 
back plate 20 along with the picture sandwiched therebetween can be made 
to join with the frame 10 by virtue of the magnetism of the back plate 20. 
In addition, the cut-out 21 of the back plate 20 and the cut-out 31 of the 
face plate 30 are designed to avoid the middle retaining strip 43 so as to 
ensure that the back plate 20, the face plate 30 and the picture 
sandwiched between the back plate 20 and the face plate 30 are attached 
securely to the frame 10. 
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the picture frame of the present invention can 
be displayed in such a manner that it stands on a long side thereof. This 
is done by inserting the long side of the frame 10 into the retaining 
portion 44 of the base 40 and subsequently by attaching magnetically the 
face plate 30 and the back plate 20 to the frame 10. The cut-out 22 of the 
back plate 20 and the cut-out 32 of the face plate 30 serve to avoid the 
middle retaining strip 43. 
It is apparent that a display picture can be easily placed into or removed 
from the picture frame of the present invention by detaching the back 
plate 20 from the frame 10. 
The embodiment of the present invention described above is to be considered 
in all respects as merely an illustration of principles of the present 
invention. Accordingly, the present invention is to be limited only by the 
scope of the hereinafter appended claims.