Temporary photo stand

A low cost temporary photograph stand consisting of a rectangular strip of foldable sheet material such as paper or cardboard, folded into a generally triangular configuration with a low tack adhesive coating in the outer surface of one side of the stand for temporarily fastening the stand to the back of a photograph for display without damage to the photograph.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a low cost temporary stand for photographs, and 
more particularly, to such a stand which may be formed by folding 
imprinted sheets having adhesive coatings on sections thereof. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
A wide variety of frames and associated stands are available for the 
display of photographs. These frames are generally intended for permanent 
use and are relatively expensive and heavy. A need exists for a low cost 
stand which can be packaged with and easily attached to photographs when 
they are received from photo-finishers, to allow temporary display of the 
photographs until they may be more permanently mounted in albums or 
permanent frames. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed toward a temporary, low cost photograph 
stand consisting of an elongated rectangular strip of sheet material, such 
as heavy paper, cardboard, or plastic, folded into a triangular 
configuratioon and having a low tack adhesive coated on the outer surface 
of one side of the triangle so that that surface may be secured to the 
back of a photograph and may later be removed from the photograph without 
damaging the surface. 
The stands of the present invention are intended to be supplied with 
finished photographs by the photofinishers. When the photographs are 
viewed some of them may be selected for attachment to the stands so they 
may be temporarily displayed on a table or the like. The stands are 
preferably supplied in the form of a sheet which is divided by 
perforations into a number of separate strips each of which may be torn 
off to form separate stands. The sheet preferably has fold lines imprinted 
thereon at right angles to the perforations. One portion of each of the 
sections formed thereby is coated with a low tack adhesive which may be 
used to join the ends of a strip separated from the sheet into the desired 
triangular form and also to secure one surface of the triangular support 
to the back of the photograph. 
Alternatively the strips of sheet material from which stands may be formed 
are joined together in a pad form, eliminating the need for tearing one 
sheet off the larger sheet. 
The stands of the present invention are sufficiently inexpensive so that a 
photofinisher may include a number of stands in an envelope with developed 
prints as a promotional scheme. The stands are easy to form and when they 
are removed from the photograph they may be discarded. These and other 
features and advantages of the invention will become apparent following 
the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The photo stand, broadly considered, includes a continuous strip of 
foldable elongated sheet material 10, transverse fold lines 20 which 
separate the sheet material into several distinct portions 30, 40, 50 and 
60 respectively, and a low pressure sensative adhesive 70. 
Sheet material 10, as seen in FIG. 1, is formed of a continuous and 
flexible material. Transverse fold lines 20 are printed on the sheet 
material 10 forming the distinct portions which are folded relative to 
each other to form the photo stand assembly. Low pressure sensative 
adhesive 70 is applied to the top side of portion 30 and used to assemble 
the photo stand and fasten it to the respective photograph. 
The completed assembly best shown in FIG. 5, forms a triangular stand which 
is ten attached as a supporting base to the photograph. 
In an alternative embodiment of FIG. 6, the elongated sheet material 
contains one transverse fold line which is used to separate the sheet 
materialk into two distinct portions 100 and 110. A low pressure-sensitive 
adhesive is applied to the top surface of portion 100 which is then used 
to attach the completed stand to the respective photograph best shown in 
FIG. 7. 
In an additional preferred embodiment of FIG. 8, the foldable elongated 
sheet material contains five transverse fold lines which separagte the 
sheet into five distinct portions 130, 140, 150, 160 and 170. A low 
pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the top of portion 130 which is 
then used to fasten the photo assembly together and to the respective 
photograph. The addition of the extra portion 160 provides for a stronger 
and arcuatly shaped base best shown in an isometric view of the completed 
photo stand of FIG. 9. The strips of sheet materials may be packaged in a 
variety of ways. As shown in FIG. 10, they may be coplanarly packaged and 
separated by longitudinal perforations 180. Additionalloy, the strips of 
sheet material may be packaged in a padular form as shown in FIG. 11. 
Photo finishers would most likely apply a form of advertisement on 
mid-portion 40 of each individual sheet strips.