Patent Publication Number: US-2006005439-A1

Title: Souvenir display frame

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Many people enjoy drinking wine and other such special beverages. Wine and other beverages are often drunk, for example, at dinners, weddings, and other special occasions that people would like to commemorate and remember. Some people will save the bottle from a wine that was drunk at such an occasion; others will keep just the cork. Picture frame-like frames and similar devices exist for displaying wine corks as keepsakes.  
      Other devices allow one to lift the label from a wine bottle or another beverage container and then to preserve the label as a keepsake. Such a device is shown in  FIG. 1 , which illustrates a wine label  1  being lifted off of a wine bottle  2 , by means of an thin transparent film adhesive tape  3 . A user of the tape presses the tape firmly over the wine bottle label. An adhesive on the tape grips the label, so that the label is lifted when the tape is peeled away from bottle. The tape can then be applied to a card or another such object so that the front of the label is visible through the transparency of the tape. The card with the label on it then serves as a souvenir or memento of the wine or the occasion at which it was consumed.  FIG. 1  also shows the wine bottle&#39;s cork  4 , which has been removed from the bottle, and which the wine drinker might want to save as an additional keepsake.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A preferred embodiment of the invention provides a souvenir display frame configured to display souvenirs or keepsakes related to a bottle of wine. The display frame includes areas configured to display flat souvenir items such as photographs, labels, and in particular, a wine label that has been lifted from a wine bottle and preserved as a keepsake. The preferred embodiment also includes a display area for displaying a solid object, and in particular the wine bottle&#39;s cork.  
      Embodiments of the invention can be sold directly to consumers who want to display keepsakes related to their consumption of wine. In the alternative, the embodiments of the invention can be sold to commercial establishments at which bottled wine is sold and drunk. The commercial establishment can then provide its patron with a souvenir display device along with a preserved label, a wine bottle cork, or other souvenir keepsakes associated with the patron&#39;s purchase. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates known means for using an adhesive film or tape to lift and remove a wine bottle label from the bottle that carries the label.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a souvenir display frame that embodies the invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the display frame shown in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a view of the constituent parts that make up the assembly shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 .  
       FIG. 5  depicts constituent elements of a display subassembly according to an alternative preferred embodiment.  
       FIG. 6  shows a foldable insert element for use in the display area of  FIG. 5  in an unfolded configuration.  
       FIG. 7  shows the elements of  FIG. 5  assembled together to complete the display subassembly. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a souvenir display frame  5  that embodies the invention. The frame is constructed in a hinged, folding book-like configuration with a first, left-side display area  10  and a second, right-side display area  12 . The left-side display area  10  is sized and configured to receive and display a first flat souvenir item  15  and a second flat souvenir item  18  behind a first transparent protective window material  20 .  
      The right-side display area  12  is sized and configured to display a third flat souvenir item  23  behind a second transparent protective window material  25 . The right-side display area also features a space  27  configured to receive, hold, and display a solid souvenir object  30 , just below the second transparent protective window material  25 . The preferred embodiments described in this document are contemplated for the display of wine bottle corks or similar beverage container stoppers as the solid souvenir object to be received in the space, but similar schemes may be devised and applied for the display of other solid souvenirs or keepsakes.  
      The right-side display area  12  is positioned behind a folding leaf  33 , which is hinged to one side of the right-side display area. The leaf  33  carries the transparent second window material  25 . When the leaf is closed, the third flat souvenir item  23  will be visible (when the frame is open) through the second window material  25 . The solid souvenir  30  held in the space  27  will be visible through another window  35  in the leaf. In a preferred embodiment, the window  35  may be a simple opening or cut-out formed through the material of the leaf  33 .  
      A closure material  38  on the right-side display area  12  holds the leaf  33  closed over the right-side display area while allowing a user of the frame  5  to open or close the leaf, e.g., to place a third flat souvenir item  23  on the right-side display area or to place a solid souvenir object  30  into the space  27  configured to receive it. The closure material may be, for example, a hook-and-loop fabric material such as VELCRO®, a small magnet, a snap closure, or the like, positioned as appropriate on one or both of a facing surface  40  of the right-side display area and an under surface  42  of the leaf  33 .  
       FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the souvenir display frame  5 , illustrating in particular the space  27  configured to receive the solid object and the leaf  33  hinged at one side of the right-side display area  12 .  
       FIG. 4  illustrates the constituent parts that comprise the souvenir display frame assembly depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The assembly is held inside a folding outside cover material  45 . The cover material serves in much the same way and can be made of similar materials as the outer cover of a hardback book. The cover material can be for example, a card stock material covered by a fabric material, or any other suitable material printed or otherwise provided with attractive and adequately durable outer surfaces.  
      The cover material  45  includes a left-hand cover side  48  and a right-hand cover side  50  with a central cover spine  53  located between and hinged on either side of the spine to each of the cover sides  48  and  50 .  
      The left-side display area  10  is in the form of a slim pouch, with an opening  55  at the top of the pouch. A display card  58  is insertable into the pouch through the opening. The display card in a preferred embodiment is similar to a single page of a conventional photo album. A front-facing display face of the card carries a dry, non-slip material intended to hold the first and second flat souvenir items  15  and  18  in place and keep them from sliding down across the face of the card. The display face  58  is ordinarily covered by a transparent film sheet  62 , which can be peeled away from the card&#39;s display face to place the souvenir items on the card, but which is then laid back down on the card to hold the souvenirs in place. The display card  58  slips back into the left-side display area  10  through the opening  55  at the top of the display area pouch.  
      The left side display area pouch  10  is fixed with an adhesive or any other suitable means to the left-hand cover side  48  of the cover material  45 . (See.  FIGS. 2 and 3 .)  
      The right side display area  12  includes a box structure  65 . The leaf  33  is hinged at one side to this box structure. An opening in the front face of the box structure opens into the space  27  that is configured to receive the solid souvenir object  30 . The box structure can be formed of any suitable material, including card stock covered with various combinations of cork sheeting, decorative papers or films, fabrics, or attractive surface coverings. The box structure is fixed to the right-hand cover side  50  of the cover material  45 . The left- and right-side display structures and the left- and right-side covers and the central spine of the cover material are sized and configured so that the frame can be opened to display the souvenirs, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , or closed like a book at other times when the souvenirs are not being displayed in the frame.  
      The souvenir display frame  5  described above may be used to display keepsakes associated with a high-quality wine, a wine that was drunk at a particularly significant occasion, or any wine that the owner of the frame would like to remember and for which the owner would like to display souvenirs. In a preferred embodiment, the first flat souvenir item  15  is a photograph, perhaps of a festive group of diners or drinkers who were at the table when the wine was opened and drunk. The second flat souvenir item  18  can be a label, which can be supplied with the souvenir frame and which may bear blank spaces onto which the owner of the frame can write details of the wine in question—its name, vintage, the date on which it was opened, tasting impressions, the names of those present, or the like.  
      The label  18  and the space for displaying it may conveniently be about the size of an ordinary business card. Where this is the case, a user of the device may display either the label with desired information written on it, or a business card taken from a restaurant at which the wine was served, a person who gave the wine as a gift, or some other entity related to the wine or the event at which the wine was drunk.  
      The third flat souvenir item  23  can be the wine label itself, lifted with an adhesive film or otherwise removed from the wine bottle and preserved as a keepsake.  
      The frame  5  will generally be sold to a consumer as an assembly that includes a blank form or label as the second flat souvenir item  18  shown in  FIG. 2 . After opening and drinking a bottle of wine, the owner can place a photograph commemorating the occasion in the space provided for the first flat souvenir item  15 , and write whatever information he would like to see on the spaces provided on the label  18 . After removing the wine label from the bottle, the user can place the preserved label in the space provided for the third flat souvenir item  23 , and put the wine cork  30  into the space  27  provided for it. The user can then display the frame along with the keepsakes commemorating his drinking of the wine.  
      The assembly includes a double-sided adhesive tape  70 . The tape includes adhesive on both sides. A relatively strong adhesive on a back side  73  of the tape adheres the tape more or less permanently to the facing surface  40  on the right-side display area  12 .  
      A relatively weaker removable adhesive is supplied on a front side  75  of the tape  70 . This relatively weaker adhesive can be, for example, the same general type of adhesive that the 3M™ Corporation uses on its Post-it® brand removable note papers. The weak adhesive on the front side of the tape lies under a protective film or paper  78 . A user of this device can peel away this protective layer to expose the relatively weak adhesive so that the wine label  23  can be applied to the facing surface  40  and held there by the tape. Because the adhesive on the front of the tape is relatively weak, the wine label can be lifted from the tape and repositioned or replaced as the user prefers. The 3M™ Corporation sells a tape suitable for this purpose under its product name “3M™ Removable Repositionable Tape 9415 PC.”  
      The tape can be of any appropriate size. This embodiment includes a tape 20 millimeters wide and 30 millimeters high.  
      Wine corks generally come in a fairly wide range of lengths, but only in a very narrow range of diameters clustered around a single standard diameter corresponding to the internal diameter of a standard wine bottle neck. The space  27  that receives the cork and the window  35  through which the cork is displayed can thus be sized accordingly. In particular, the space  27  should be somewhat taller and deeper than the standard cork diameter, so that the cork will fit easily into the space. The space may be wider moreover, than the longest cork length of a range of differing cork lengths, so that any cork having a length within this range will fit within the space.  
      Some three hundred ordinary wine bottle corks were measured and found to have various lengths within a range from about 35 to 55 millimeters. The space  27  may thus preferably have a width of at least 55 millimeters, or in the alternative a width of at least 60 millimeters. The space will most preferably have a width within a range between 55 and 60 millimeters.  
      The corks were further found to have diameters falling within about 19 and 24 millimeters. The space  27  may thus have a height and a depth of at least about 24 millimeters, and in other cases a height and a depth of at least about 25 millimeters or more.  
      The window  35  should be sized to hold the cork inside the space  27 . In particular, at least one of two conditions should be met: (1) the height of the window opening should be somewhat smaller than the standard cork diameter; or (2) the width of the window opening should be somewhat smaller than the shortest cork from within a variety of corks having lengths within a predetermined range.  
      In one embodiment, the window  35  has a width of about 55 or 56 millimeters. In that embodiment, the window has a height of no more than about 20 millimeters, and more preferably a height of no more than about 18 millimeters. The height of the window thus being somewhat less than the diameter of the smallest usual cork, the window will secure the cork inside the space while still allowing most of the cork to be visible through the window.  
      As noted above, the frame assembly  5  may commonly be sold directly to consumers who wish to display souvenirs of wine that they themselves have drunk. As an alternative, the frame assembly can be sold by a manufacturer or a distributor to a restaurant, a bar, or another commercial establishment which sells wine for consumption on the premises. After the patron drinks the wine, the restaurant can further serve the patron by offering to remove the label from the bottle for him, take a photograph and save the cork, and then provide the souvenir frame to the customer with the keepsakes placed inside it. This can provide the establishment with a source of additional revenue through the sale of keepsakes and an associated display device, give the patron an enduring reminder of an enjoyable occasion, and build loyalty on the part of the patron, who will be reminded of the establishment each time he looks at the souvenir display. As  FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate, the display device may bear information  67  signifying the identity of the restaurant or commercial establishment. The information can be printed onto or otherwise provided onto the display device above the first window material  20  (as shown in the drawings), below it, or at any suitable location.  
      A manufacturer or seller of such items may thus sell to a restaurant or a similar commercial establishment (1) a supply of adhesive tapes or similar supplies for lifting labels from wine bottles and preserving them as keepsakes; and (2) a souvenir frame, display stand, or another device adapted to display the preserved wine bottle label. The commercial establishment would then offer to remove the wine bottle label from the bottle and provide that label to the patron along with the display device. The display device can be in the form a display frame of the type described above, or it could be another type of display device different from the one described above but nevertheless adapted to display the preserved wine bottle label.  
      A restaurant or other commercial establishment may purchase devices for lifting and preserving labels removed from wine bottles along with display devices of the type described herein, or separately from the same or a different source as the one from which it acquires the display devices.  
       FIGS. 5, 6 , and  7  illustrate elements of a right-side display area assembly  80  that is used in one preferred embodiment of a display device according to the invention.  
      Referring specifically to  FIG. 5 , the assembly includes a box structure  65 , with a front-side receiving area  83 , and an insert-receiving space  85 . The assembly also includes a space-defining insert  87 , which is generally rectangular in shape with an opening on one side so that a space  27  is defined inside the insert. The insert also includes a left-side tab  90  and a right-side tab  92  on either side of the opening that defines the space.  
      The final major element of the right-side display area assembly is a folding frontpiece  95 . The frontpiece includes a facing surface  40  that will provide a location for the display of a wine bottle label or another flat keepsake. As in the prior embodiment, a piece of double-sided adhesive tape  70  is situated on the facing surface  40 , and the tape is protected by a peel-away facing paper  78 . Closure materials  38  are located on either side of the frontpiece&#39;s fold.  
      A first, outer window  97  is defined as a cut-out in the material on one side of the frontpiece  95 , and a second, inner window  100  on the other. These windows are situated to align at least generally with one another when the frontpiece is closed along its fold. The front side leaf  33  of the frontpiece has a further, generally much larger window, which is provided with a window material  25 , as in the prior embodiment.  
      The box-shaped insert  87  is folded from a pre-cut piece of card stock or another suitable material. The shape of the insert before folding is illustrated in  FIG. 6 , which shows the structures that will form the sides and back of the insert, along with the tabs  90  and  92  that will hold the folded insert in place.  
      In putting the assembly together, the space-defining insert  87  is placed into the insert-receiving space  85  of the front-side receiving area  83  on the box structure  65 . A small amount of glue or tape on the left-side tab  90  and the right-side tab  92  can be used to hold the insert in place. With the insert in place, the frontpiece  95  is placed onto the box structure&#39;s front-side receiving area. In a preferred embodiment, the front-side receiving area is recessed somewhat below the side walls of the box, so that the frontpiece lies generally flush with the sides of the box. The frontpiece  95  hides the tabs  90  and  92  of the insert behind the structure that defines the inner window  100 .  
      In the preferred embodiment described here, the outer window  97  in the leaf  33  of the frontpiece  95  is about 18 millimeters high and about 55 millimeters wide. The inner window  100  through the other side of the frontpiece is about 23.5 millimeters high and about 60 millimeters wide. The opening  27  at the front of the insert  87  is about 25.5 millimeters high and about 65.5 millimeters wide. Note that these dimensions increase from piece to piece as one moves backward from the front window to the insert. This contributes to the ease of assembly of the display, in that these three openings and spaces to not have to be aligned with complete precision with one another; some degree of manufacturing tolerance is provided thereby with respect to the alignment of these elements. The dimensions of the insert-receiving space  85  are not critical, so long as the space is big enough to fully receive the insert  87 .  
      The completed assembly  80  appears generally as shown in  FIG. 7 . After completion, the assembly can then be included in a greater overall assembly that corresponds to the one that is shown, e.g., in  FIG. 2  and described above as the prior embodiment.  
      The depth of the insert  87  is such that there is about 21.5 millimeters of total depth between the backside of the insert and the front-most surface on the front side of the leaf  33  on the frontpiece  95  when the entire assembly is completed. Note that this will be somewhat less than the diameter of many standard corks, which typically have diameters ranging from about 19 millimeters to 24 millimeters. This is permissible, though, as the middle portion of the cork can project slightly beyond the front surface of the outer window  97  while still being retained by the top and bottom edges of the window. This slight projection of the cork outside of the window is visually attractive, in fact, so long as the cork does not extend outward so far that it interferes with the book-style closing of the overall assembly.  
      Although the invention has been described above in connection with a preferred embodiment of a souvenir frame for displaying keepsakes kept in connection with the drinking of bottled wine, aspects of the invention may be equally applicable to keepsakes related to other beverages, or indeed to other items that a user might wish to display and which might or might not relate to beverages.  
      The foregoing preferred embodiment of the display frame has also been described as being suitable for use in a business method whereby a commercial establishment provides its customers with such display apparatus in connection with its sales to customers of bottled beverages. Although the novel display frame is certainly suitable for use in such a business method, the method is not so limited, and other display devices may find use in such methods as well.  
      It is likely, moreover, the further modifications, additions, and improvements may be devised by those of skill in the art, and the invention is not to be deemed limited to the preferred embodiments and modes described above. The scope of the invention should instead be determined primarily by reference to the following patent claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which those claims are rightfully and legally entitled.