Abstract:
A print medium that is expandable and collapsible comprises two sheets separated by at least one collapsible brace. The collapsible brace includes a first wall attached to one of the sheets and a second wall that swings in relation to the first wall. The swinging motion of the second wall in one direction expands a distance between the two sheets, while a swinging motion of the second wall in the opposite direction collapses the distance between the two sheets. At least one sheet of the paper may include an ink receiving layer. When the collapsible brace is expanded, the print medium becomes a substantially rigid structure.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of paper products and more particularly relates to print media for use in printers and copiers. More specifically, the invention relates to print media that is thin enough to pass through a printer when in a collapsed state and which may be subsequently expanded to a form a rigid structure.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Technological advances in computer printer technologies have made computer printers less expensive and thus, widely available to all computer users. Currently available printers are able to produce full-color and highly detailed images. Digital cameras have also become widespread and are often used in place of conventional cameras due to their versatility and functionality. For example, images obtained with digital cameras are easily downloadable to a computer where a user is able to collect and manipulate the various images and print them out using the high quality printers of today.  
           [0003]    The images and documents created on the printers are often printed on a printing medium, such as a piece of paper. However, standard printer paper is typically non-rigid. To make the printed information more sturdy and suitable for visual display, the printed paper is usually attached to a backing or other rigid support structure. However, attaching the printed paper to the backing is time consuming and requires use of additional materials.  
           [0004]    One such type of backing that is used is construction paper. Construction paper is typically a thick, rigid paper of varying colors that is often used in the craft industry. Another type of backing that may be used to make a print medium rigid is corrugated paperboard or cardboard. Cardboard is typically made with three layers of paper stock, where a middle corrugated layer is sandwiched between two flat paper layers. The middle layer is corrugated by forming the middle layer in a pattern of alternating ridges and grooves, with the peaks and troughs of the ridges and grooves being attached to the interior surfaces of the two flat paper layers, typically with an adhesive.  
           [0005]    In addition to making the printed information rigid, the backing may be bent or folded into various shapes for the creation of decorative objects. Possible uses for the backings include forming a curved media in the shape of a rigid cylinder for displaying advertisements on a restaurant table, incorporating the backing into various craft projects or figures to produce decorations for holidays and parties, or making protective and insulating gift packages. However, since printers and copiers are limited to the thickness of printing medium that the printer or copier may accept for printing, passage of a cardboard or construction paper backing through the printer may be problematic since most printers require a print medium having a caliper thickness of 0.040 inches or less.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,938 to Lingle et al. discloses a printable, corrugated paperboard. The paperboard in Lingle et al. is constructed from three layers of paper having a middle corrugated layer that is sandwiched between two outside layers. The paperboard has a combined thickness of less than 0.042 inches allowing the paperboard to pass through a printer. However, the corrugated layer in the paperboard of Lingle et al. is glued to the outside layers, has a set thickness, is not expandable to a greater thickness and is not collapsible.  
           [0007]    In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a paper or printer medium that is thin enough in a collapsed state to have an image disposed thereon and pass through a typical printer, and which may be subsequently transformed to a rigid, sturdy structure for use in creating objects displaying the information printed on the paper or printer medium.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    In accordance with the invention, an expandable print medium and method for providing the same are disclosed. An expandable print medium including at least one collapsible brace disposed between two planar sheets is disclosed. The expandable print media provides a surface that is substantially flat for printing images and data thereon and which can be subsequently expanded to provide a rigid medium for display.  
           [0009]    The invention also includes an expandable piece of print medium having a collapsible corrugated layer disposed between a substrate and an ink-receiving layer. The print medium also includes a filament attached to the corrugated middle layer. The expandable print medium, when in a collapsed state, may be received by a printer or copier such that an image or other data may be printed on the ink-receiving layer. The print medium may be subsequently expanded to a rigid form for subsequently displaying the image or other data. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming that which is regarded as the present invention, the advantages of this invention can be more readily ascertained from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 represents a cross sectional view of an expandable piece of paper in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2A represents a cross sectional view of a collapsible brace;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2B represents a front view of the collapsible brace of FIG. 2A;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D represent alternative embodiments of the collapsible brace of the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 represent cross sectional views of a partially collapsed and substantially collapsed expandable piece of paper of FIG. 1, respectively;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 represents a top view of the expandable piece of paper of FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 represent an alternative embodiment of an expandable piece of paper of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 represent another alternative embodiment of an expandable piece of paper;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 represent an alternative embodiment of an expandable piece of paper with inverted collapsible braces;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 12 represents another alternative embodiment of the expandable piece of paper of the present invention wherein the collapsible braces are disposed in multiple directions;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 13 represents a perspective view of a curled piece of expandable paper of FIG. 1;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 14 represents a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an expandable piece of paper of the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 illustrate how a pull tab of the present invention being used to secure the expandable piece of paper to an expanded form; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIGS. 17 through 19 represent another alternative embodiment of an expandable printable paper of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]    The invention described herein is directed to an expandable and collapsible print medium for use with inkjet printers, laser printers, dye-sublimation printers, photocopiers, and other devices that transmit images and other data to a print medium. More specifically, a print medium having an expandable, collapsible core, which in a collapsed state is accepted by a printer and in an expanded state is rigid and planar, is disclosed. The expandable print medium enables the user to print an image or document on the print medium and then expand the print medium, making it more rigid or shaped, and suitable for display.  
         [0026]    It will be apparent from the following description that the figures described herein are not drawn to scale, but are rather illustrated for exemplary purposes only. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a cross sectional view of a piece of an expandable and collapsible print medium, such as print paper  10  (hereinafter “expandable medium  10 ”) in an expanded state. As illustrated, the expandable medium  10  includes an upper sheet  12   a  and a lower sheet  12   b , wherein the sheets are substantially planar members. The sheets  12  described herein may be any type of paper substrate known to those of ordinary skill in the art including, without limitation, polyester films, resin-coated papers, or other coated papers known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The paper substrate may include, but is not limited to, one or more natural pulps, regenerated pulps, or synthetic pulps. The paper substrates may also contain additives generally used for paper making, such as sizing agents, strengthening agents, loading materials, antistatic agents, fluorescent brighteners, and dyes. Furthermore, one or more surfaces of the sheets  12  may be coated with surface sizing agents, surface strengthening agents, fluorescent brighteners, antistatic agents, dyes, anchoring agents, and the like.  
         [0027]    The expandable medium  10  also includes a plurality of collapsible internal braces  14  (hereinafter “collapsible braces”) which have a general “V” shape. As described herein, each collapsible brace  14  may represent a single flute of a corrugated middle layer of the expandable medium  10 . The plurality of collapsible braces  14  function as a corrugated medium within the expandable medium  10  to provide strength and rigidity to the expandable medium  10  when the collapsible braces  14  are expanded. It will be apparent that the plurality of collapsible braces  14  illustrated in FIG. 1 are used to produce a corrugated paper in an expanded state and are collapsible to produce a substantially flat piece of paper.  
         [0028]    An exploded cross-sectional view of the collapsible brace  14  of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2A, the collapsible brace  14  is a single piece with two walls  16  that meet at a hinge region or flexible joint  18 . Each wall  16  of the collapsible brace  14  has a hole  22  formed therein, wherein an axis of each of the two holes  22  in wall  16   a  and wall  16   b  are substantially coaxial to each other. The two walls  16  may pivot at the hinge region  18  where ends  20  of the walls  16  may swing closer together or swing farther apart. Referring now to FIG. 2B, there is shown a front view of the collapsible brace  14  of FIG. 2A. The view in FIG. 2B illustrates an outside face of wall  16   b . As illustrated, three holes  22  are formed in the wall  16   b  at substantially the same vertical height, but it is apparent that any number of holes  22  may be formed therein. Although the collapsible braces  14  have been described herein as individual braces with a general “V” shape, collapsible braces  14  with other shapes that perform identical or equivalent function to the “V” shaped braces are meant to be encompassed by the present invention. For example, in FIGS. 2C and 2D there is shown a “U” shaped collapsible brace  14 ′ and an “L” shaped collapsible brace  14 ″, respectively, that may be used in alternative embodiments. It will also be appreciated that although the collapsible braces  14  in FIG. 1 are individual, as depicted in FIGS. 2C and 2D the collapsible braces  14  of the present invention may also be linked together.  
         [0029]    Referring again to FIG. 1, the expandable medium  10  also includes a filament  24 . As illustrated, the filament  24  is substantially parallel to the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b . As shown in FIG. 2A, the filament  24  extends through the holes  22  in the walls  16  of the collapsible braces  14  and is attached to one of the walls  16   a  of each collapsible brace  14  by an attachment means  26 . Attachment of the filament  24  to one of the walls  16  of the collapsible brace  14  may be accomplished in any manner known to those of ordinary skill in the art including, but not limited to, using an adhesive, tying a knot in the filament  24 , or attaching the filament  24  to a member that is larger than the hole  22  (FIG. 2A).  
         [0030]    As illustrated in FIG. 1, the filament  24  extends beyond the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b  and is securely attached to the pull tab  28 , such that the pull tab  28  may be used to pull the filament  24 . The filament  24  is attached to each of the collapsible braces  14  on the wall  16   a  lying distal to the pull tab  28 , while the filament  24  passes through the wall  16   b  that is proximate the pull tab  28 . A top  32  of the collapsible brace  14  is attached to the upper sheet  12   a  by a securing means  30 . A bottom of the wall  16   b  proximate to the pull tab  28  is also attached to the lower sheet  12   b  by the securing means  30 . In the illustrated embodiment, the securing means  30  is an adhesive that adheres the collapsible brace  14  to the upper sheet  12   a  or lower sheet  12   b . It is understood that any manner of securing the collapsible brace  14  to the lower sheet  12   b  or the upper sheet  12   a  may be used to practice the present invention.  
         [0031]    The distal wall  16   a  of the collapsible brace  14  also contacts the lower sheet  12   b  at top  34 , but is not secured to the lower sheet  12   b  at top  34  allowing the collapsible brace  14  to slide along the lower sheet  12   b  at top  34 . Although the upper sheet  12   a  in the illustrated embodiment is attached to the collapsible brace  14 , in alternative embodiments, the upper sheet  12   a  may not be attached to the collapsible brace  14 , but rather the top  32  of the collapsible brace  14  that contacts the upper sheet  12   a  may slide along the upper sheet  12   a.    
         [0032]    Referring to FIG. 3, the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1 is shown in a partially collapsed state. As illustrated, the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b  are in closer proximity to one another than the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b  of FIG. 1. Also, the ends  20  of the collapsible brace  14  are farther apart from one another than the ends  20  illustrated in FIG. 1. The ends  20   a  of the walls  16   a  that are positioned distal to the pull tab  28  move in relation to the ends  20   a  of the walls  16   b  that are positioned proximate to the pull tab  28  and which are attached to the lower sheet  12   b  with the securing means  30 . Since the filament  24  is attached to the collapsible braces  14 , the collapsing of the collapsible braces  14  causes the filament  24  to move in the direction of arrow  36 . Upon collapsing the upper sheet  12   a  and the end  20   a  of the distal wall  16   a  of the collapsible brace  14  also move in the direction of the arrow  36  as the expandable medium  10  collapses.  
         [0033]    Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a cross section of the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1 in a substantially collapsed portion. As illustrated, the upper sheet  12   a  has moved as the expandable medium  10  has collapsed in the direction of the arrow  36 , such that the upper sheet  12   a  partially hangs over the lower sheet  12   b . The expandable medium  10  of FIG. 4 has a smaller thickness than the non-collapsed expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1. As illustrated, the collapsed expandable medium  10  is thin enough to be received in a computer printer or photocopy machine.  
         [0034]    In the illustrated embodiment, the upper sheet  12   a  may comprise an ink receiving layer for receiving dry ink or wet ink from the computer printer or photocopy machine. As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, ink-receiving layers may be fabricated by coating or adhering at least one or more ink-receiving layers to the paper substrate, such that the paper substrate is configured to receive dry or wet ink. As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, ink receiving layers are designed to accept an image or other indicia with clear color tone such that no change in color tone occurs on the printed portions of the ink receiving layer and such that no discoloration (e.g. yellowing) occurs on the unprinted portions of the ink-receiving layer after a lapse of time. As illustrated, the upper sheet  12   a  comprises an ink jet recording sheet and the lower sheet  12   b  comprises a paper liner that is not specially coated to be an ink-receiving layer. However, it is within the scope of the present invention to have both the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b  include ink-receiving layers or to have both the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b  comprise paper liners.  
         [0035]    In the collapsed state, the expandable medium  10  may be received by the computer printer or photocopier and have an image or other text printed on the ink-receiving layer. Once printing has finished, the expandable medium  10  may be expanded to make the expandable medium  10  rigid. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the expandable medium  10  is expanded by pulling the tab  28  away from the expandable medium  10 . This action causes the attachment means  26  to engage and lift the distal wall  16   a  of the collapsible brace  14 . As the collapsible brace  14  is lifted, the upper sheet  12   a  moves farther away from the lower sheet  12   b  and the expandable medium  10  returns to the expanded state as shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the collapsible brace  14  comprises a paper substrate, but it is understood that any material that may be collapsed and expanded as the collapsible brace  14  described herein can be used.  
         [0036]    Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a top view of the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1, wherein the collapsible braces  14  substantially extend across the expandable medium  10  in a transverse direction. Horizontal dashed lines  40  illustrate points of contact where the ends  20   a  of the distal walls  16   a  of each of the collapsible braces  14  contact the lower sheet  12   b  (shown in FIG. 1). Horizontal dashed lines  42  illustrate points of contact where the top  32  of each collapsible brace  14  contacts the upper sheet  12   a  (shown in FIG. 1) and horizontal dashed lines  44  illustrate points of contact where the ends  20   b  of the proximate walls  16   b  of each of the collapsible braces  14  contact the lower sheet  12   b  (shown in FIG. 1). The filaments  24  are shown as vertical dashed lines and extend out of the expandable medium  10  to the pull tab  28 . It will be apparent that the collapsible braces  14  may also be positioned longitudinally along a length of the expandable medium  10  in an alternative embodiment.  
         [0037]    Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a cross section of an alternative embodiment of expandable medium  110 . As illustrated, the expandable medium  110  in the alternative embodiment is substantially the same as the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1, except that the attachment means  26  is located on the opposite wall  16   b  of the collapsible brace  14  and the pull tab  28  on the filament  24  is on the opposite side on the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the expandable medium  110  in this embodiment collapses when the upper sheet  12   a  moves in the direction indicated by arrow  38  and the walls  16  of the collapsible brace  14  collapse one on top of the other as illustrated in FIG. 7. After the expandable medium  110  has collapsed, the expandable medium  110  may be passed through a printer or copier such that an image may be printed on an ink-receiving layer on the upper sheet  12   a  or the lower sheet  12   b . The expandable medium  110  may then be expanded by pulling the pull tab  28  in the direction indicated by arrow  36 , wherein the collapsible braces  14  reverse the collapsing process to expand the expandable medium  110 .  
         [0038]    Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown another alternative embodiment of the expandable medium  210 . The expandable medium  210  of this embodiment is essentially the same embodiment as the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 1, except that the top  32  of the collapsible brace  14  is not attached to the upper layer  12   a . The expandable medium  210  of FIG. 8 also has a compressible casing  46  attached to the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b , wherein the casing  46  is attached to the entire periphery of the upper sheet  12   a  and the lower sheet  12   b . The casing  46  may be fabricated from an elastic material, to allow the casing  46  to stretch. As shown in FIG. 9, since the collapsible brace  14  is not attached to the upper sheet  12   a , the collapsible braces  14  may collapse and prevent the upper sheet  12   a  from moving laterally. Rather, the upper sheet  12   a  will move straight downward as indicated by arrow  48  and rest on the top  32  of the collapsible brace  14 . It will be apparent that the expandable medium  210  may be expanded by pulling the pull tab  28  away from the expandable medium  210 .  
         [0039]    Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown a cross section of another alternative embodiment of the expandable medium  310 . In this embodiment, the expandable medium  310  has inverted collapsible braces  114  in addition to the collapsible braces  14 . Combining the inverted collapsible braces  114  with the collapsible braces  14  may provide more support because the collapsible braces  14  and inverted collapsible braces  114  may be spaced closer together than the collapsible braces  14  alone. Referring now to FIG. 11, the expandable medium  310  of FIG. 10 is shown in a partially collapsed state, illustrating how the collapsible braces  14  and the inverted collapsible braces  114  will collapse relative to each other.  
         [0040]    Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown another alternative embodiment of the expandable medium  410 . As illustrated, the collapsible braces  14  are positioned both transverse across the collapsible piece of expandable medium  410  and longitudinally along the expandable medium  410 . FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the expandable medium  410  divided into four quadrants  50 ,  52 ,  54 , and  56 . The collapsible braces  14  are illustrated in a similar manner to the collapsible braces  14  of FIG. 5, wherein three sets of horizontal dashed lines  40 ,  42 , and  44  represent the points of contact between the collapsible braces  14 , and the upper sheet  12   a  and the collapsible braces  14  and the lower sheet  12   b . As shown in quadrants  52  and  56 , the collapsible braces  14  extend transverse across the expandable medium  410  and narrow in length from an exterior periphery of the expandable medium  410  to the center of the expandable medium  410 . In quadrants  50  and  54 , the collapsible braces  14  extend longitudinally on the expandable medium  410  and diminish in length from the outer periphery of the expandable medium  410  to the center.  
         [0041]    To expand the expandable medium  410  of FIG. 12, two pull tabs  28   a  and  28   b  are used. The tab  28   a  pulls the filaments  24   a  attached to the transverse collapsible braces  14  in quadrants  52  and  56 , while the tab  28   b  pulls the filaments  24   b  attached to the collapsible braces  14  in quadrants  50  and  54 . Although not illustrated, the filaments  24   a  in quadrant  56  extend into and attach to the collapsible braces  14  in quadrant  52 , and the filaments  24   b  in quadrant  54  extend into and attach to the collapsible braces  14  in quadrant  50 , such that pull tabs  28   a ,  28   b  may be used to expand all the collapsible braces  14  of the expandable medium  410 . It is understood that providing collapsible braces  14  in both a transverse and longitudinal orientation will provide rigidity to the expandable medium  410  in both the transversely and longitudinal directions. For example, FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 5 partially rolled or curled. Since the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 5 has the collapsible braces  14  extending transverse, the expandable medium  10  is able to be rolled up, or curled, from end  60  to end  62 . However, the expandable medium  10  of FIG. 12 would resist curling from side  64  to side  66  because the transverse collapsible braces  14  would prevent curling from the side  64  to side  66 .  
         [0042]    As illustrated in FIG. 14, there is shown a perspective view of a piece of expandable medium  510  with collapsible braces  14  extending longitudinally therealong. As illustrated, the expandable medium  510  is curled from side  64  to side  66  and would resist curling from end  60  to end  62  because of the longitudinally placed collapsible braces  14 . Referring again to FIG. 12, the expandable medium  410  would resist curling in both a side to side and an end to end direction because the collapsible braces  14  extend in both transverse and longitudinal directions. It will be further appreciated, that the collapsible braces  14  may be placed longitudinally on one end of a piece of paper and transverse on an opposite end of the piece of paper such that the paper may be curled in different directions on the same piece of paper.  
         [0043]    When the expandable paper in any of the embodiments described herein is in an expanded state, as shown in FIG. 15, the pull tab  28  may be used to secure the expandable medium  210  in the expanded state. As shown in FIG. 15, a lower surface  68  of the pull tab  28  may be coated with an adhesive such that the lower surface  68  of the pull tab  28  will adhere to a surface. FIG. 16 illustrates the pull tab  28  adhered to a lower surface  70  of the lower sheet  12   b , such that the filaments  24  are secured and hold the collapsible braces  14  in the expanded position. Although the pull tab  28  is adhered to the lower surface  70  of the lower sheet  12   b  such that the pull tab  28  will not interfere with the aesthetic quality of a photo or other image printed on an upper surface  72  on the upper sheet  12   a , it is apparent that the pull tab  28  may also be adhered to the upper surface  72  on the upper sheet  12   a . The adhesive used to coat the lower surface  68  of the pull tab  28  may by of a type such that securing the pull tab  28  is permanent or, alternatively, the adhesive used may be semipermanent such that the expandable medium  210  may be expanded, secured with the pull tab  28 . The pull tab  28  may then be unsecured, the expandable medium  210  may be collapsed, and the expand-collapse process may be repeated.  
         [0044]    In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a piece of expandable medium  610  may be expanded or contracted without the use of the filament  24 . As depicted in FIG. 17, the expandable medium  610  is substantially the same as the expandable medium  210  of FIG. 8 without the filament  24 . The top  32  of the collapsible brace  14  may or may not be secured to the upper sheet  12   a  with the securing means  30 . To expand or contract the expandable medium  610 , a user may pull the upper sheet  12   a  in the direction of arrow  36  or the lower sheet  12   b  in the direction of arrow  38 . As illustrated, the upper sheet  12   a  is pulled in the direction of the arrow  36 , as represented in FIG. 18, to collapse the expandable medium  610 .  
         [0045]    As illustrated in FIG. 18, a portion of the upper sheet  12   a  extends over the lower sheet  12   b . To secure the expandable medium  610  in the collapsed position, a layer of adhesive may be placed on a lower surface  74  of the upper sheet  12   a  that extends over the lower surface  12   a . The portion of the upper sheet  12   a  extending over the lower sheet  12   b  may then be wrapped around the lower sheet  12   b  and adhered to the lower surface  70  of the lower sheet  12   b , as illustrated in FIG. 19. As previously described herein, the adhesive may be a permanent adhesive for permanent attachment or a semi-permanent adhesive such that the upper sheet  12   a  may be detached from the lower sheet  12   b , and the expandable medium  610  may be expanded by reversing the process.  
         [0046]    The expandable medium  10  of the present invention may be fabricated into papers of varying sizes including, without limitation, 8½×11, metric A4, 11×17, 8½14, or any other paper size known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, the expandable medium  10  of the present invention is not meant to be limited to papers used in printers and copiers. Furthermore, although the detailed description herein has been directed towards expandable medium  10  with approximately five collapsible braces  14 , it will be appreciated that the expandable medium  10  described herein may be fabricated with any number of collapsible braces  14  and not depart from the spirit of the present invention. For instance, in a standard piece of printer paper, hundreds of collapsible braces  14  may be used. It will be further appreciated that the expandable medium  10  described herein may be fabricated such that the expandable medium  10  may be expanded to virtually any thickness, so long as the expandable medium  10  in the collapsed state has a thickness that allows the expandable paper to pass through a printer or copier.  
         [0047]    Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to various illustrated embodiments, various additions, deletions and modifications that are obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains, even if not shown or specifically described herein, are deemed to lie within the scope of the invention as encompassed by the following claims.