Page holder device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a page holder device for holding the pages of a book open. The page holder device comprises an elongate arm that is configured to extend across pages of an open book and to apply pressure to the pages in order to hold the book in an open configuration, and an engagement element that is coupled to the arm and configured to be engaged by a user of the device in order to press the page holder device towards the book. The engagement element is movable along the arm between an inner position located in a central region of the arm and an outer position located towards an end of the arm in order to facilitate use of the device as both a page holder and a bookmark.

Claims

1. A page holder device, the page holder device comprising an elongate arm that is configured to extend across pages of an open book in use, and an engagement element that is coupled to the arm and configured to be engaged by a user of the device in order to press the page holder device towards the book, wherein the engagement element comprises a user engaging portion located on a first side of the arm and a book engaging portion located on a second side of the arm opposed to the first side, the user engaging portion including a pad or aperture that is configured to be engaged by one or more digits of a user in order to apply a force to the arm of the page holder device, and the book engaging portion comprising a protrusion that is configured to be received within a spine or gutter area of a book, wherein the engagement element is movable along the arm between an inner position located in a central region of the arm and an outer position located towards an end of the arm.

2. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the engagement element is configured for sliding movement along the arm.

3. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the engagement element comprises an aperture within which the arm is received, the arm being movable within the aperture in a direction aligned with its longitudinal axis.

4. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the page holder device comprises a locking mechanism for selectively fixing the position of the engagement element with respect to the arm.

5. A page holder device according to claim 4, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a locking formation provided on the engagement element that is engageable with a plurality of locking formations provided on the arm.

6. A page holder device according to claim 4, wherein the engagement element is formed of a flexible or elastomeric material, and is configured to be deformed in order to facilitate disengagement of the locking mechanism.

7. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the user engaging portion of the engagement element is movable relative to the book engaging portion of the engagement element in order to facilitate disengagement of the locking mechanism.

8. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the arm has a length of at least 120 mm, more preferably at least 150 mm.

9. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the arm has a width of at least 8 mm, more preferably at least 10 mm.

10. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the arm has a thickness that is significantly lower than its width, preferably a thickness of 3 mm or less.

11. A page holder device according to claim 1, wherein the arm is formed of a material that is at least substantially transparent.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0028] FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B schematically illustrate a page holder device in accordance with one possible embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] FIGS. 3 and 4 schematically illustrate an engagement element or hub of the page holder device of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B;

[0030] FIGS. 5A and 5B schematically illustrates the page holder device in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0031] FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B schematically illustrate a page holder device 1 in accordance with one possible embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these figures, the page holder device 1 comprises an elongate arm 10 and an engagement element or hub 20 that is coupled to the arm 10. The arm 10 is configured to extend across pages 51 of an open book 50 and to apply pressure to the pages 51 in order to hold the book 50 in an open configuration, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 5A, and the hub 20 is configured to be engaged by a digit of a user of the device 1 in order to press the page holder device 1 towards the book 50.

[0032] The arm 10 has a rectangular cross section with a width of approximately 12 mm and a height of approximately 2 mm, and extends over a length of approximately 180 mm in its longitudinal direction between a first end 11 and a second end 12. The arm 10 is formed of an at least substantially transparent plastics material to prevent it from obscuring text on the pages 51 of the book 50, and may have rounded corners and/or edges in order to reduce the likelihood of the arm 10 marking the pages 51 of the book 50.

[0033] The arm 10 is provided with three rectangular through holes or apertures 15a, 15b, 15c each extending through the thickness of the arm 10 from an upper surface 13 of the arm 10 to a lower page-engaging surface 14 of the arm 10. A first one 15a of the apertures is provided at an approximately central location along the length of the arm 10. The remaining apertures 15b, 15c are each provided towards a respective end 11, 12 of the arm 10.

[0034] The engagement element or hub 20, which is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, comprises a user engaging portion or thumb plate 21 that is located above the upper surface 13 of the arm 10. The thumb plate 21 is circular or oval shaped in plan-view, and includes an outwardly facing upper surface 22 with a dished shape that is configured to be engaged by a thumb or other digit of a user in order to enable the user to apply a force to the page holder device 1 in order to press the device towards the pages 51 of the book 50.

[0035] The hub 20 further comprises a book engaging portion 23 on the opposite side of the arm 10 to the thumb plate 21. The book engaging portion 23 includes a tapered or V-shaped protrusion 24 that is configured to be received within a spine or gutter area 52 of the book 50 between the pages 51 thereof in order to assist with maintaining the page holder device 1 in the correct position with respect to the book 50. The book engaging portion 23 is connected to the thumb plate 21 by a connecting portion 26 that extends between the book engaging portion 23 and the thumb plate 21 on one side of the arm 10.

[0036] The hub 20 includes a rectangular shaped opening or aperture 25 that extends through the hub 20 from one side to the other thereof. The aperture 25 is defined between the thumb plate 21 and the book engaging portion 23 of the hub 20, and has a height that is greater than the thickness of the arm 10. The aperture 25 is closed along one of its side edges by the connecting portion 26 of the hub 20, and is partially closed along its other side edge by a retaining protrusion 27 that extends downwardly from the thumb plate 21 towards the book engaging portion 23 on the opposite side of the hub 20 to the connecting portion 26 but is not connected to the book engaging portion 23. The arm 10 is received within the aperture 25 and is movable through the aperture 25 in a direction aligned with its longitudinal axis in order to enable the hub 20 to slide along the length of the arm 10.

[0037] A protrusion or pin 28 extends downwardly from the thumb plate 21 into the aperture 25. The pin 28 is shaped and dimensioned to be received within the retaining apertures 15a, 15b, 15c provided in the arm 10 in order to releasably fix the hub 20 at a defined position along the arm 10. In particular the pin 28 is configured to be received within the central aperture 15a in order to releasably fix the hub 20 at an inner position towards the mid-point of the arm 10, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and to be received within the outer apertures 15b, 15c in order to releasably fix the hub 20 at a pair of outer positions towards the ends 11, 12 of the arm 10, one of which is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0038] Use of the page holder device 1 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 5A, and 5B.

[0039] When it is desired to use the page holder device 1 to hold the pages 51 of a book 50 open, the device 1 is used with the hub 20 located at the inner position towards the mid-point of the arm 10, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, with the pin 28 received within the central aperture 15a of the arm 10. When the page holder device 1 is in this configuration the arm 10 may be placed across the pages 51 of the book 50 as shown in FIG. 5A, and a user of the device 1 may apply downward pressure to the thumb plate 21 of the hub 20 using a thumb or finger in order to press the arm 10 towards the book 50 and keep the book 50 open using a single hand. Due to the comparatively long length of the arm 10, the arm 10 is capable of extending across the majority of the width of the pages 51 of a typical book 50, as shown in FIG. 5A, thereby preventing the pages 51 from lifting even when the device 1 is used to assist a user with reading in a windy environment.

[0040] When it is desired to use the page holder device 1 as a bookmark at the end of a reading session, the hub 20 is moved from the inner position shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B to one of the outer positions towards one of the ends 11, 12 of the arm 10, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. To do this, the pin 28 is first disengaged from the central aperture 15a of the arm 10 by lifting the thumb plate portion 21 of the hub 20 upwardly with respect to the arm 10. As the hub 20 is lifted, the connecting portion 26 that connects the thumb plate 21 to the book engaging portion 23 is able to deform slightly to allow the thumb plate 21 to pivot away from the book engaging portion 23, thereby facilitating disengagement of the pin 28 from the central aperture 15a. The hub 20 may then be slid along the arm 10 towards an end 11, 12 of the arm 10 until the pin 28 is received within one of the outer apertures 15b, 15c, thereby locking the hub 20 in one of its outer positions.

[0041] When the page holder device 1 is in this configuration, it can be used as a bookmark as shown in FIG. 5B, with the hub 20 being located outside the book 50 but with the majority of the length of the arm 10 being received inside the book 50 and extending along a significant portion of the height of the book 50 at a position close to the book's spine, thereby securely retaining the page holder device 1 within the book 50.

[0042] The hub 20 may subsequently be returned to its inner position as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B by lifting the thumb plate portion 21 of the hub 20 to disengage the pin 28 from the outer aperture 15b or 15c and then sliding the hub 20 back towards the centre of the arm 10 until the pin 28 is received within the central aperture 15a.

[0043] It will be appreciated that many modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the upper and lower parts of the hub are only connected to each other by a single connecting portion on one side of the arm. However, in another embodiment the upper and lower parts of the hub may be connected to each other by a pair of connecting portions on opposing sides of the arm. In this case the hub may be formed of a flexible or elastomeric material, and may be configured to enable the pin to be lifted out of the retaining apertures in the arm by the application of a compressive force to the hub, for example by squeezing inwardly on the hub with a thumb and finger.

[0044] In addition, other locking mechanisms for temporarily fixing the position of the hub with respect to the arm are possible besides the pin and aperture arrangement described above, including an interference fit between the hub and the arm.

[0045] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the hub comprises a user engaging portion in the form of a thumb pad with an upper surface that is configured to be pressed by a thumb or other digit of a user. However, in other embodiments the user engaging portion of the hub could equally include an aperture that is configured to receive a thumb or other digit of a user in order to enable the page holder device to be worn like a ring.

[0046] Other modifications and variations will also be apparent to the skilled person.