Book with cassette holding recess

[57] ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a book which, in addition to having a pair of covers interconnected along corresponding edges thereof with a set of leaves therebetween, also has a recess defined therein, adjacent one of the covers, which opens to the outside of the book and is adapted to receive a tape cassette, and/or an enclosure for the same, or the like therein. Preferably, the recess is defined by a flat, narrow-edged case which is piggybacked onto the outside surface of one cover of the book, and has a recess therein which opens into one edge of the case to receive the cassette.

Claims, 5 Drawing Figures

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PATENTED FEB 1 81975

3,866,751

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3,866,751

BOOK WITH CASSETTE HOLDING RECESS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the storage, handling, location and usage of non-print materials such as tape cassettes, and particularly to those non-print materials which are related in subject matter to a library book, text book or the like, and which preferably should accompany the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION INCLUDING CERTAIN OBJECTS THEREOF

School libraries in particular often carry large collections of non-print materials such as sound recordings and film strips. Often the non-print materials are interrelated by general subject matter and/or specific text with particular books, with which they are intended to be used. The enjoyment and learning benefits which can be derived from the conjunctive use of such interrelated books, recordings and films is well recognized by educators, particularly with respect to young children. Yet, the books and non-print materials are commonly classified and stored separately from one another, the books being stored on open shelves and the tape cassettes, for example, being stored in drawers, plastic bags and boxes, revolving stands, multi-cassette albums and the like. Thus, the student must locate and obtain first one and then the other. Often this is a difficult and discouraging task for the students. The separate classification and storage of a tape cassette, for example, from the related book also complicates the task of librarians inasmuch as the cassette and book must be checked-out and checked-in separately and also must be returned to different locations in the library. Furthermore, because of their small size, the cassettes are not infrequently lost while being transported to, from, and within the library.

One object of the present invention is to provide a means and technique whereby books and non-print materials, particularly tape cassettes may be physically associated with one another, so that the student need only locate and obtain one body of material. Another object is to provide a means and technique of this nature whereby the physically associated combination of book and non-print material may be stored in the same manner as a book, and with the same accessibility and ease of handling as applies to books in general. A further object is to provide a means and technique of this nature whereby small-sized, non-print materials such as tape cassettes can be stored, handled, and located in the same manner as a book on existing shelving, and, if desired, can be in direct physical attachment with a book to which the cassette interrelates in subject matter.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a cassette holder which is attachable to an existing book, for the storage, handling, and locating of the cassette in conjunction with the book, both before and during the time of use. Moreover, it is an object of the invention to provide a means and technique whereby the holder is attachable to the book, for the storage, handling, and locating of the book-and-holder combination on existing shelving or the like, adapted to the store books in general. Other objects include a means and technique of this nature whereby the holder also provides space for additional materials, such as pictures and pamphlets, which may be relevant to the sub2 ject matter of the book and/or the cassette; as well as a means and technique of this nature whereby the cassette holder, and/or the book-cassette unit, can be cheaply and attractively produced, and if desired, in5 scribed or overlayed with printed matter that is pertinent to the usage, content, classification or storage of the cassette or cassette-book combination. Still further objects will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows hereafter.

‘° SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These objects and advantages are realized by a means and technique of my invention wherein, in addition to having a pair of covers interconnected along corre15 spending edges thereof, with a set of leaves or pages therebetween, the book of my invention also has a recess therein, adjacent one of the covers, which opens to the outside of the book and is adapted to receive non-print material such as a tape cassette, and/or an 20 enclosure box for the same therein. Perferably, the recess opens into one edge of the book, such as into the normally upper horizontally disposed edge thereof, or into the vertical edge thereof which is opposed to that edge along which the edges of the covers are intercon25 nected. However, in certain embodiments of the invention, the recess may open into the profile of one cover of the book, as shall be explained.

Preferably, the book also has means thereon for releasably retaining the cassette in the recess. For exam³⁰ pie, the recess may have releasable clamping means therein, which are engageable with the cassette to retain it in the recess. In the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, the clamping means takes the form of a pair of yieldably biased clamping elements ³³ which are disposed in the recess, on opposite sides thereof.

Where the recess opens edgewise of the book, it may be interposed between the covers, or it may be disposed on the side of one of the covers opposite from ⁴⁰. the set of leaves therebetween. For example, in one of the aforementioned embodiments of the invention, the recess is defined by a case which is connected with the one cover, on the outside surface thereof, and the recess preferably being adjacent the normally upper hori⁴³ zontally disposed edge of the cover. In this way, both the case and the set of leaves may have a profile area corresponding substantially to that of the covers. In another of these embodiments, however, the recess is defined by a case which is connected with one of the cov⁵⁰ ers on the inside surface thereof, and recess again preferably being adjacent the normally upper horizontally disposed edge of the cover, the set of leaves being set in from the aforesaid edge of the cover, to form a vestibule between the covers in which the case is accommo⁵⁵ dated in the closed condition of the book.

The case may be integral with the one cover of the book, and in fact, the one cover may define the recess on one side thereof; but preferably, the case is a separate item which is attachable or securable to the cover, piggyback fashion, when it is desired to combine the case and the book. It is also preferred that the case be flat and narrow edged, and have a guadrilateral outline about the profile thereof, corresponding in general to ₆₅ that of the cover of the book. Preferably too, the spaced, oppositely disposed profile faces of the case coterminate with one another at the outline, and define the edges of the case therebetween; there being means

3,866,751 disposed between the faces, within the outline of the case, which define a recess therein, which opens to the outside of the case through one edge thereof, and is adapted to receive the cassette therein. The periphery of the recess defining means may coincide with the outline of the case, and in such an instance, the terminal edge of one face of the case has a notch therein, at the recess, to facilitate removal of the cassette from the recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These features will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein there are illustrated three embodiments of the invention, including the presently preferred piggyback version of the same.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piggyback holder showing the cassette removed from the recess therein;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the holder when it is secured in operative condition on the book;

FIG. 3 is a part cross-sectional view of a book having a holder integral therewith which opens edgewise of the book;

FIG. 4 is another such view of a book which has a holder thereon which opens facewise of the book; and

FIG. 5 is a part perspective view of a book which has a pouch contained therein, within a vestibule formed at the top of the book between the covers thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the holder 2 comprises a flat, narrow edged case 4 which is used in an upright position and has a quadrilateral outline about the profile thereof, and spaced, parallel, oppositely disposed profile faces 6 thereon, which coterminate with one another at the outline, and define the edges 8 of the case therebetween. The case can be economically manufactured from cardboard or other inexpensive sheet material. The holder 2 also comprises a plate of cardboard partitioning or the like, which is disposed within the outline of the case, but notched to define an orthogonal recess 10 therein, which opens to the outside of the case through the upper horizontal edge 8 thereof. The recess 10 is adapted so that a tape cassette 12 can be inserted edgewise therein, and flush with the edge 8' of the case, although there is a notch 14 in one face of the case, at the edge 8', through which the cassette is engaged for purposes of removing it from the case when desired. The recess 10 is also adapted so as to have a trapezoidal cross section in planes parallel to the faces 6, whereby the body of the cassette is yieldably engaged and retained between the end walls 10' of the recess, when it is inserted therein. At present this cross section is attained by bonding or otherwise securing a pair of oppositely disposed resilient foamed plastic wedges 16 in the bottom of the recess. The cassette holder of FIG. 1 can be used advantageous separately from a book for storage of cassettes on shelves in libraries (e.g., with a group of books pertaining to the same subject matter as the recording on the cassette tape) or in the bins commonly found in record shops. When used in such fashion, the holder can bear printing on both sides such as is commonly found on record jackets.

Referring next to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the holder 2 has approximately the same size in profile, as the book 18 to which it relates, so that when the holder is juxtaposed and secured to one cover 20 of the book, it approximates the height of the same, but is of sufficiently narrower width than the cover, to enable the cover 20 to swing free about the binding 22 in the normal use of the book. The holder 2 may be secured in any one of a number of ways, including bonding or fastening it to the cover 20, taping it to the book, or interconnecting the two by means of a slip cover (not shown) passed thereover, which slip cover may or may not be transparent.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment wherein the holder 24 and the book 26 are integral, and cover 28 of the book also serves as the back face of the case 30. In this instance, moreover, the bottom of the recess 32 is equipped with a pair of longer wedges 34 which are secured to the side walls 32' of the recess, so as to give the recess a trapezoidal cross section in planes crosswise of the faces 28, 36 of the case.

In FIG. 4, the holder 38 is connected with the book 40, either in the mode of FIG. 2 or in the mode of FIG. 3, but the recess 42 for the cassette opens into the exposed profile face 44 of the case. The recess 42 is adapted, moreover, to receive the enclosure box 46 in which cassettes are now commonly stored and sold, the box 46 being bonded or otherwise secured in the recess so that the hinged cover 48 thereof is free to swing between the open and closed positions thereof, and preferably to a closed position within the recess 42 at which the cover 48 is flush with the face 44 of the case. Note in this connection, the clearance 42' left between the box and the walls of the recess. The recess 42 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the recesses in the other embodiments shown in the drawings can of course be adapted to receive a removable cassette box or other cassette container rather than to receive only the cassette.

In FIG. 5, the set of pages or leaves 50 in the book 52, is set in from the upper horizontal edges 54 of the covers 56, to form a vestibule 57 thereabove, and the case takes the form of a notched pouch 58 which is interiorly outstanding on the inside surface of one cover 56 in the vestibule, there being sufficient clearance between the covers 56 in the closed condition of the book, to accommodate the pouch 58 therebetween.

Other materials, such as felt, rubber, and cardboard, may be used for the wedges 16 and 34. Similarly, other means may be employed for retaining the cassette in the recesses 10 and 32, including a latch which is applied over the top of the same, and buckled to one side thereof, or hooked and looped; or alternatively, a cover which is applied to the case, and is either removable from the case, or shiftable in relation to it to expose the recess.

Also, with respect to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2-4, the cassette holder may be of substantially greater or lesser height and/or width than the book to which it is attached.