GB2317336A

GB2317336A - Device for mounting an article on a surface

Info

Publication number: GB2317336A
Application number: GB9619713A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bertram Edward Charles Green
Original assignee: SECOL Ltd
Current assignee: SECOL Ltd
Priority date: 1996-09-20
Filing date: 1996-09-20
Publication date: 1998-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 2016-09-20
Also published as: GB2317336B; GB9619713D0

Abstract

A device 5 for mounting an article 1 on a surface, e.g., a photograph in an album, comprises a back strip 9 carrying adhesive for attachment to the surface and a front strip, the strips being resiliently deformable to open a slot to receive the article. The strips are welded together along edge 13, and may be of polyester. The adhesive may be acrylic, and may be covered by a release strip.

Description

DEVICE FOR MOUNTING AN ARTICLE ON A SURFACE This invention relates to devices for mounting articles onto surfaces. For example, the device could be used for mounting photographs in a photograph album.

One form of a conventional mounting device is a cardboard corner mount. Such devices are used, for example, to mount photographs on the pages of photograph albums. When the photograph has been mounted on the page by the application of four corner mounts, the photograph can only be removed by carefully bending the photograph away from the page in order to release it from the corner mounts which are permanently adhered to the page. Such bending of the photograph will tend to cause damage. Furthermore, the corner mounts are normally applied to the pages by the use of the type of adhesive which requires activation by applying moisture ("lick and stick"). This moisture can be damaging to the photograph.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a device for mounting an article on a surface, the device comprising two portions of sheet material forming a slot therebetween for locating the article, and means for attaching one of said two portions of sheet material to the surface, the arrangement being such that the device is resiliently deform able so that the slot can be opened to facilitate insertion and removal of the article.

The resilient deformation may be provided by the characteristics of the sheet material used for one or both of the two portions and/or by the method of connection of the two portions. For example, the two portions could be formed from a continuous sheet of material which is folded. However, it is preferred that the two portions are connected together by welding as this tends to provide the desired resilience in the device so that once the article is mounted between the two sheet portions the sheet portions lie generally parallel to one another to correctly locate the article, but also allowing one of the sheet portions to be folded away from the other to facilitate easy insertion and removal of the article without requiring excessive bending of the article.

Preferably the portions of sheet material comprise polyester. Such a material is a chemically inert, clear and strong thermoplastic material. The material will not react chemically with film emulsions or dyes, printed surfaces, etc. to cause adhesion, image offset, bleaching, fading or deterioration.

An adhesive, preferably an acrylic, may be applied to one of the sheet portions for attaching the mounting device to a surface, such as a page of a photograph album. Advantageously, a releasable film is applied over the adhesive so that the mounting device can be easily handled and stored prior to use. When it is required to attach the mounting device to a surface the releasable film is removed to expose the adhesive and the device is pressed against the surface.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a device for mounting an article on a surface, the method comprising welding two sheets of material together to form a slot therebetween for locating the article, the method being such that the welded sheets are resiliently deformable to allow the slot to be opened to facilitate insertion and removal of the article.

For a better understanding of the present invention, an embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a photograph located on a page by two mounting strips; Fig. 2 shows a perspective rear view of a mounting strip; Fig. 3 shows the process of mounting a photograph on to the mounting strip; and Fig. 4 shows the photograph when mounted.

Referring initially to Fig. 1, a photograph or the like 1 is shown mounted on a page 3 of a photograph album by means of two mounting strips 5.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the mounting strip 5 comprises two sheets 7, 9 of a transparent polyester material. As shown in Fig. 2, the back sheet 9 of polyester material is larger than the front sheet 7 and has an acrylic adhesive applied thereto, over which a protective releasable strip 11 is applied. To adhere the mounting strip 5 to a surface (as in Fig. 1), the protective strip 11 is removed to expose the adhesive underneath.

The front sheet 7 and the back sheet 9 are welded together along an edge portion 13 by applying heat. The welding of the sheets 7, 9 is such that the sheets tend to lie substantially parallel to one another, which enables a photograph 1 to be reliably located by the mounting strip 5. However, the properties of the polyester material used for the sheets 7, 9 of the mounting strip 5 and the nature of the weld 13 result in the mounting strip being resiliently deformable, i.e. the front sheet 7 can be folded away from the back sheet 9 as illustrated by arrow A in Fig. 3. The photograph 1 may then be easily located in the mounting strip 5.

When the photograph 1 is located as required the front sheet 7 can be released and will (due to the nature of the weld 13 and/or the properties of the polyester sheets 7, 9) fold back to lie substantially parallel to the back sheet 9, as indicated by arrow B in Fig. 4.

As an alternative to the embodiment described, front and back sheets 7, 9 could be formed from a single sheet of material which is folded.

Claims

1. A device for mounting an article on a surface, the device comprising two portions of sheet material forming a slot therebetween for locating the article, and means for attaching one of said two portions of sheet material to the surface, the arrangement being such that the device is resiliently deformable so that the slot can be opened to facilitate insertion and removal of the article.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein said two portions are connected together by welding.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of said two portions of sheet material comprises polyester.

4. A device according to Claims 1 to 3, comprising an adhesive for attaching the device to the surface.

5. A device according to Claim 4, wherein said adhesive comprises acrylic adhesive.

6. A device according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein a releasable film is appiied over said adhesive.

A . A method of manufacturing a device for mounting an article on a surface, the method comprising welding two sheets of material together to form a slot therebetween for locating the article, the method being such that the welded sheets are resiiientis deformable to allow the slot to be opened to facilitate insertion and removal of the article.

8. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as illustrated in any one of or any combination of the accompanying drawings.

9. A method of manufacturing a device according to claim 1 or 7, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as illustrated in any one of or any combination of the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A device for mounting a flat article on a surface, the device comprising two strips of sheet material connected together by welding along an edge of one strip so that one strip overlies the other strip whereby a slot is formed between the strips for locating an edge portion of the article, the device being resiliently deformable whereby: the overlying strip can be folded away from the other strip (i) to open the slot to facilitate insertion of the edge portion of the article, the overlying strip being biased by the resiliency of the device back to a position to close the slot thereby to retain the edge portion of the article; and (ii) to facilitate removal of the article.

4. A device according to any of Claims 1 to 3, comprising adhesive applied to a surface of said other strip facing away from the overlying strip.

6. A device according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein a releasable film is applied over said adhesive.

7. A device for mounting a flat article on a surface substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

8. A method of manufacturing a device according to Claim 1, the method comprising welding two strips of sheet of material together so that one strip overlies the other strip and to form a slot therebetween for locating an edge portion of the article, the method being such that the welded sheets are resiliently deformable whereby: the overlying strip can be folded away from the other strip (i) to open the slot to facilitate insertion of the edge portion of the article, the overlying strip being biased by the resiliency of the device back to a position to close the slot thereby to retain the edge portion of the article; and (ii) to facilitate removal of the article.