Abstract:
Fortune cookie fortunes or other small slips of sheet material are displayed in a frame comprising: a base on which a fortune message is mounted, a transparent panel overlying the fortune message and a retaining rim which fits over the transparent panel and latches to the base. A strip of magnetic material is adhered to the back of the base for mounting the display on a surface, such as the door or side of a refrigerator.

Description:
RELATED PATENT APPLICATION  
       [0001]     U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/655,474, filed Feb. 2, 2005, to which Applicant claims priority. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention is directed to a frame for displaying slips of sheet material. More particularly, the present invention is directed to frames for displaying slips of sheet material wherein the frames are magnetically attached to ferrous surfaces, such as the surfaces of a refrigerator.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Fortune cookies have slips of sheet material in the form of paper slips with fortunes printed on the paper slips or with other information such as selected lottery numbers printed on the paper slips. People tend to collect these paper slips for future reference. Some messages and numbers on these slips appear to have significance greater than others. Accordingly, there is a need to conveniently display these messages or numbers in a conveniently accessible location to remind and perhaps titillate people possessing these messages.  
         [0004]     With the advent of relatively powerful permanent magnets, people tend to festoon their refrigerators with various messages and images. Fortune cookie messages are necessarily rather small. If held in place with a permanent magnets, portions of the messages may be obscured. Consequently, there is a need for an attractive, convenient way to display fortune cookie messages on locations such as refrigerators, wherein the messages are readily interchangeable and are attractively presented.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     In view of the aforementioned considerations, a frame is provided for displaying a slip of sheet material, wherein the frame comprises a base having a peripheral wall defining a compartment having a floor recessed with respect to the peripheral wall, the floor providing a backing for the slip of sheet material. The slip of sheet material is covered by a transparent panel, and is held in place on the base by a retaining rim having at least one latch member for latching with a complementary latch member on the base to hold the rim seated against the transparent panel with the slip visible through a window defined by the rim. Magnetic material is fixed to the rear side of the frame for retaining the frame against a magnetizable surface.  
         [0006]     In a further aspect, the floor has an adhesive surface for preferably releasably holding the slip of sheet material.  
         [0007]     In still a further aspect of the invention, the magnetic material is at least one strip of magnetic material adhered to the rear side of the frame, in which the frame is preferably made of plastic material.  
         [0008]     In still a further aspect of the invention, the latch member on the retaining rim is a projecting detent which extends into a recess accessible from the rear side of the base, the latch member latching with a complementary surface on the base adjacent to the recess.  
         [0009]     In still a further aspect of the invention, there are two latch members configured as detents on opposed sides of the retaining ring that engage complementary surfaces disposed adjacent to recesses through the rear side of the base.  
         [0010]     In still a further aspect of the invention, the frame is in combination with the slip of material wherein the slip of material is a message or number from a fortune cookie.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     Various features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fortune cookie message shown being extracted from a fortune cookie;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is perspective view of a refrigerator with a message, such as but not limited to, a fortune message from the fortune cookie of  FIG. 1  mounted as a display in a frame in accordance with the principles of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the frame and fortune message display of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged front view of the display of  FIGS. 2 and 3 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged rear view of the display of  FIGS. 2-4 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged long side view of the fortune cookie display of  FIGS. 2-5 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged short side view of the display of  FIGS. 1-6 , and  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is an elevational view taken on lines  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0020]     Referring now to  FIG. 1  there is shown a fortune cookie  10  which has a message  11  printed on a slip of sheet material  12 . It is customary following a meal for fortune cookies  10  to be distributed to almost every Chinese restaurant in America as well as many locations internationally. The fortune cookie fortunes  11  on the slip of sheet material  12  often contain messages  11  or lucky numbers, such as lottery numbers, that people find to be fortuitous, inspiring, romantic, enlightening or even humorous. For these reasons, many people delight in retaining these slips of sheet material long after reading them.  
         [0021]     Unfortunately, many people, for lack of an appropriate display for the messages  11 , end up taping or magnetically holding with out a frame, the slips  12  to appliances such as refrigerators or stoves, or the slips  12  simply sit in their wallets or purses for long periods of time.  
         [0022]     In accordance with the present invention, the slips  12 , which are preferably made of paper, are mounted in a display  14  configured as a frame  15  having a window  16  behind which the slip  12  is mounted. The display  14  has a magnet associated therewith for mounting the display  14  on a magnetizable surface such as a ferrous surface  20  of a refrigerator door  21  or side panel  22  (see  FIG. 2 ). As will be explained hereinafter, the display  14  is readily detachable from and mounted on the panel  20  and the slip  12  is conveniently replaceable. A purpose of the display  14  is to protect the slip  12  so that it will better stand the test of time.  
         [0023]     Referring now mainly to  FIG. 3  where the display  14  is shown in an exploded perspective view, it is seen that the display has a rectangular base  30  with a peripheral rim  32  having four sides  34 ,  35 ,  36  and  37 , which have beveled outside surfaces that intersect a planar front surfaces  40 . The planar front surface  40  defines a rectangular compartment  42  having a floor  44  surrounded by a shoulder  46  indented from the front surface  40 . The shoulder  44  has an adhesive surface  48  upon which a slip of sheet material  12 , preferably containing a message  11  in the form of a fortune from a fortune cookie, is mounted.  
         [0024]     Preferably, the base  30  has a strip of magnetic material  50  attached on its rear side  52  by releasable adhesive. The magnet  50  is preferably a single strip magnet with sufficient magnetic force to hold the display  14  in place on the surface of a refrigerator or stove when subject to the occasional jarring due to closing an appliance door, yet being readily removable from the appliance by hand.  
         [0025]     Preferably, an informational strip  55  informing the purchaser of the display  14  to place “YOUR FORTUNE HERE” is releasably placed over the adhesive area  48  and is peelable from the adhesive area  48  to place a slip of sheet material  12  containing “fortune” in the form of a message  11  thereon.  
         [0026]     A transparent plate  60  covers the peel strip  55  prior to first use of the display  14  and has dimensions slightly less than the floor  44  so that the transparent plate  60  rests against the peel strip  55  prior to purchase of the display  14  after purchase, the transparent plate  60  abuts the slip of sheet material  12  when the fortune message  11  is mounted. The transparent plate  60  is surrounded by the shoulder  46 .  
         [0027]     A retaining rim  66  has the window  16  therein which is dimensionally smaller than the transparent plate  60  so that the rim  66  fits over the plate  60  and sandwiches the plate  60 , peel strip  55  or message strip  12  between the adhesive surface  48  on the floor  44  of the base  30  and the retaining rim  66 . A retaining rim  66  has an outer rectangular dimension greater than the rectangular dimension of the shoulder  46  so that the retaining rim  66  is received in the rectangular compartment  42  and rests on the shoulder  46 , with the surface  68  of the retaining rim  66  being generally coplanar with the front face  40  of the base  30 .  
         [0028]     The assembled display  14  has a front view similar to  FIG. 4 , a back view similar to  FIG. 5 , a long-side view similar to  FIG. 6 , and a short-side view similar to  FIG. 7  and a cross section similar to  FIG. 8 . As is evident from  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the depth of the display  14  is substantially less than the width and height providing a compact frame for mounting and displaying the slip of sheet material  12 .  
         [0029]     As is seen in  FIG. 8  as well as  FIGS. 3 and 5 , to facilitate having a compact display  14  that is easily assembled and disassembled for inserting and replacing fortune messages  11  the retaining ring  66  has first and second latching members  72  and  74  in the form of detents having outwardly projecting latching shoulders  76  and  78 , respectively. The detents  72  and  74  are received through recesses  80  and  82  in the floor  44  of the base  14  (see  FIGS. 3 and 5 ). The shoulders  76  and  78  formed on the notched detents  72  and  74  snap over bottom surface portions  84  and  86  of the back surface  52  of the base  14  to keep the rim  66  latched to the base. The magnetic strip  50  fits between the recesses  80  and  82 , and has a thickness T approximating the distance that the notched detents  72  and  74  project beyond the surface portions  84  and  86  of the back face  52  of base  14 . Consequently, the detents  72  and  74  do not interfere with mounting of the display  14  on a flat surface such as the flat appliance surfaces  21  and  22  of the refrigerator  20  (see  FIG. 2 ). When it is desired to replace the message  11 , on the slip  12 , the notched detents  72  and  74  are squeezed together between one&#39;s thumbnail and index fingernail so that the shoulders  76  and  78  clear the wall portions  84  and  86 . This allows the retaining rim  66  to be removed from the base  14  so that the transparent plate  60  is also removable or can drop away from the floor  44  exposing the adhesive surface  48  and either the peel strip  55  or a mounted slip  12  for removal from the adhesive  48 . After the slip  12  is replaced to change the message  11 , the transparent plate  60  is placed over the slip  12  and the retaining rim  66  is pressed into the rectangular recess  42  so that the notched detents  72  and  74  pass through the recesses  80  and  82  and snap the shoulder  76  and  78  behind the surfaces  84  and  86  of the base  14 .  
         [0030]     It is preferable that the components of the display  14  be molded from plastic material.  
         [0031]     From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.