Patent Publication Number: US-2006016114-A1

Title: Photo mat with alignment grid and method of using the same

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE  
      The present disclosure generally relates to photo mats for displaying graphic materials and, more specifically, to photo mats having an alignment grid for aligning the graphic materials to the photo mat, and a method of using the same.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE  
      Mountings for photos and, more particularly, photo mats for mounting pictures in frames, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,553 discloses a mount for photographs having a back panel and a mounting panel. The back panel includes indices and adhesive strips to locate and adhere the photo on the back panel. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,423 discloses a self-sticking page for photo albums, production scheduling charts, presentation pages, advertising layouts and the like. The self-sticking page includes a board or support member having a pair of transparent sheets associated therewith.  
      In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,770 discloses materials and a method for mounting a picture in accurate relation on a sheet of mount material and providing a mat with a picture viewing opening of the correct size to frame the picture and provide the proper overlap of the mat onto the edges of the picture adjacent the picture viewing opening, thereby making a neat mounted and matted picture. The mount is provided with coordinate guide means marking equal distance intervals extending horizontally and vertically in opposite directions from intersecting horizontal and vertical axes through a selected central point on said mount, identifying means for selected of said coordinate guide means, and a sheet of mat material having coordinate guide means and identifying means similar to the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mount for use as guides in cutting the picture viewing opening through the mat material, the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mat material corresponding to the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mount being closer to said horizontal and vertical axes by the amount of the desired overlap of the mat onto the edges of the picture at the edges of the picture viewing opening.  
      In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,933 discloses a picture framing system for mounting, displaying and protecting a photograph or work of art on a vertical surface of ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal, or a non-metallic surface without using nails. The picture framing system includes a sleeve or pocket-type photograph holder which can be used with various styles of mats and picture frames for mounting, displaying, and protecting the photograph against the flat vertical surface, such as a refrigerator door or dining room wall. The picture framing system includes a flexible sheet having an adhesive front surface for attachment to the photograph holder and a magnetized rear surface for permitting the attachment of either type of photograph holder to a ferrous metal surface. The picture framing system also includes a flat, flexible ferro-magnetic sheet having a front magnetically-attractive surface and a rear adhesive surface for allowing either type of photograph holder and the picture frame to be mounted on a non-ferrous metal surface or any non-metallic surface. In addition, the picture framing system includes a centering tool for centering the photograph or art work on the mat and within the sleeve or pocket-type photograph holder and also within the picture frame.  
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
      In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a photo mat including a base, a grid, and at least one adhesive strip is disclosed. The base includes a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base. The grid is disposed on the rear surface of the base and includes a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines that are generally perpendicular to each other. The at least one adhesive area is disposed on the rear surface.  
      In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a display device including a photo mat and a frame adapted to receive the photo mat is disclosed. The photo mat includes a base, a grid, and at least one adhesive strip. The base includes a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base. The grid is disposed on the rear surface of the base and includes a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines that are generally perpendicular to each other. The at least one adhesive area is disposed on the rear surface.  
      In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of positioning an image on a photo mat is disclosed. The method includes aligning the image to at least one grid located on a rear surface of the photo mat, wherein the grid is aligned to an opening in the photo mat. The method further includes adhering the image to at least one adhesive area located on the rear surface of the photo mat. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a rear isometric view of one exemplary embodiment of a photo mat, constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure;  
       FIG. 2  is rear plan view of the photo mat of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a partial rear plan view of the photo mat of  FIG. 1 , with emphasis on the grids;  
       FIG. 4  is a rear isometric view of the photo mat of  FIG. 1 , with a photo partially attached thereto;  
       FIG. 5  is a front isometric view of the photo mat of  FIG. 1  in a picture frame; and  
       FIG. 6  is an isometric view of a photo album having album pages implementing photo mats of the present disclosure. 
    
    
      While the method and device described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to  FIG. 1 , a photo mat is generally depicted by reference numeral  20 . As shown therein, the photo mat  20  in this one exemplary embodiment includes a base  21 , an opening  22 , and a grid  24 , and one or more adhesive areas  26  disposed on a rear surface of the base  21 . A user may attached an image or picture  28  to the photo mat  20  with the image of the pictures aligned with and viewable through the opening  22 , and may then display the picture  28  on the photo mat  20  in a frame, or the like.  
      The photo mat  20 , as seen in  FIG. 1 , may be constructed from a paper, cardboard, wood, metal, chipboard/mat board, ceramic, leather, glass, poly-resin, magnetic material, etc., or any combination thereof. The base  21  may include a front surface  30 , a rear surface  32 , and a perimeter.  
      The base  21 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , may have one or more edges depending on the shape of the photo mat  20 . For example, in this exemplary embodiment, the base  21  has a generally rectangular shape and, as such, includes an upper edge  34 , a lower edge  36 , a first side edge  38 , and a second side edge  40 , wherein the upper and lower edges  34 ,  36  are substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the first and the second edges  38 ,  40 . The shape of the base  21  may, however, be round, square, triangular, oval, odd shaped or a combination thereof, and may, therefore, have a corresponding number of edges.  
      In one exemplary embodiment, the opening  22  may be located near a center of the photo mat  20 , but the opening  22  may be located anywhere in the perimeter of the photo mat  20 . The opening  22 , like the perimeter of the photo mat  20 , may have one or more edges which may correspond to the shape of the perimeter. In this exemplary embodiment, the opening  22  has a generally rectangular shape and, as such, includes an upper edge  42 , a lower edge  44 , a first side edge  46 , and a second side edge  48 , wherein the upper and lower edges  42 ,  44  are substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the first and second side edges  46 ,  48 . The shape of the opening  22  may, however, be round, square, triangular, oval, odd shaped or a combination thereof, and may, therefore, have the corresponding number of edges.  
      The grid  24 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , includes a plurality of first lines oriented parallel to each other, and may include a plurality of second lines oriented parallel to each other and perpendicular to the plurality of first lines. The grid  24  is oriented and aligned relative to the photo mat  20  and/or portions thereof, to enable the alignment of the image  28  relative to the opening  22 . The grid  24  may be located anywhere on the rear surface  32  of the photo mat  20  and, as in this exemplary embodiment, may be locate near two edges of the opening  22 . More specifically, the grid  24  may be located on opposite edges of the opening  22  and, as such, may be located near the top edge  42  and the bottom edge  44  of the opening  22 . The grid  24 , when disposed in more than one area of the photo album  20  may be located at a substantially similar, if not equal, position relative to the opening  22  and/or the perimeter of the base  21 . For example, as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a first grid section  24   a  is located in the same position relative to the upper edge  42  as a second grid  24   b  is positioned relative to the lower edge  44 . As such, the first set of lines or the second set of lines of the first and second grid sections  24   a,    24   b  will align along a first axis, and the other of the first and second set of lines will be equally spaced from the edges  42 ,  44  and be parallel to each other. The grid  24  may be printed on the photo mat  20 , but may be placed on the photo mat  20  by many other means. For example, the grid  24  may be on a sticker that is placed on the photo mat  20 , the grid  24  may be stitched on the photo mat  20 , and/or the grid  24  may be part of the one or more adhesive areas  26 .  
      The grid  24  may, however, be adapted to function with photo mats having various shapes and configurations. For example, the grid  24  may be disposed on the rear surface  32  of a photo mat and/or opening  22  that is round, square, triangular, oval, odd shaped or a combination thereof. Similarly, the grid  24  may have such shapes and configurations to align an other than four sided image to the opening  22 .  
      The one or more adhesive areas  26 , as seen in  FIG. 2 , may include double-sided tape, a sticky surface, and/or any other type of adhesive or adhesion method that may allows for the repositioning of the image  28  intended to be attached to the adhesive areas  26 . In this exemplary embodiment, the adhesive areas  26  are a pair of multi use adhesive strips  26  that allow the user to place, remove, and replace the image  28  on the adhesive areas  26  multiple times with out greatly reducing the adhesive properties of the adhesive areas  26 , and without damaging the image  28 . The adhesive areas  26  may be located anywhere on the rear surface  32  of the photo mat  20 , and as in this exemplary embodiment, may be locate near two edges of the opening  22 . More specifically, the adhesive areas  26  may be located on opposite edges of the opening  22  and, as such, may be located near first side edge  46  and the second side edge  48  of the opening  22 .  
      Additionally and/or alternatively, the photo mat  20  may be a page, or a part of the page, in a photo album  60 , as seen in  FIG. 6 . The photo album  60  may include a body  62  having a front cover  64  and rear a cover  66 , and a binding mechanism  68 . The photo mat  20  may be disposed between the front and rear covers  64 ,  66 , and the binding mechanism  68  may be a perfect bind, or any other mechanism able to attach the photo mat  20  to the body  62 . For example, the binding mechanism  68  may include, but is not limited to, a ring and hole mechanism, a hook and loop mechanism, a clip, and the like.  
      For reasons of clarity and brevity, the following operation will be described while referring to a photo mat  20  having the pair of grids  24   a,    24   b  and a pair of adhesive areas  26   a,    26   b  located near the opening  22  as described previously, but may be used with any number of grids  24  and adhesive areas  26  located anywhere on the rear surface  32  of the photo mat  20 .  
      In operation, as seen in  FIG. 4 , the user depending on the construction of the adhesive areas  26  may remove a backing or cover  50  from the adhesive areas  26  to expose a tacky, sticky or otherwise adhesive surface. The user may then align the image  28  to the grid  24  prior to adhering the image  28  to the adhesive areas  26 . In one exemplary embodiment, the user may align the image  28  to the opening  22  and/or the perimeter of the base  21 , by aligning an upper portion  52  of the image  28  to the first grid section  24   a,  and aligning a lower portion  54  of the image  28  to the second grid section  24   b.  In doing so, the user may place the upper portion  52  on a corresponding area of the grid  24   a,  as the lower portion  54  is placed on the grid  24   b.    
      The image  28  may be adhered to the photo mat  20  by then pressing the image  28  against the adhesive areas  26   a  and  26   b.  If desired, the user may remove the image  28  from one or more of the adhesive areas  26  by simply pulling the image  28  from the adhesive areas  26 , and may reposition or replace the image  28  as described previously. The photo mat  20 , after and/or before the image  28  is placed thereon, may be disposed into a display device, such as a frame  50 , as seen in  FIG. 5 . As such, the image  28  may be aligned to the photo mat  20 , and the photo mat  20  and/or the image  28  may be aligned to the frame  50 .  
      While the above has been described with reference to specific examples which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.