Album and fabrication process
AssigneeRembrandt Photo Services
InventorDavid Fu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An album for containing items such as photographs or collectible cards, and its fabrication process, combining the advantages of a cover of one thermoplastic material with the different advantages of leaves of another thermoplastic material weld-incompatible with the cover material, using thermoplastic welding for securing the leaves to the cover. In its preferred embodiment, the album comprises a cover having vinyl inner and outer cover sheets secured to one another in superposed relation with a polypropylene sheet captured therebetween and extending along the cover's spine, and a plurality of polypropylene leaves thermally welded to the captured polypropylene sheet along the cover's spine and through the inner cover.
Claims23
An album comprising:
- an inner cover sheet of a thermoplastic material and an outer cover sheet of a thermoplastic material secured to one another in superposed relation to form a cover having a spine;
- a plurality of leaves of a thermoplastic material weld-incompatible with the thermoplastic materials of said inner cover sheet and said outer cover sheet;
- and
- an intermediate sheet of a thermoplastic material weld-compatible with the thermoplastic material of said leaves, said intermediate sheet retained between said inner cover sheet and said outer cover sheet and extending along said spine, said leaves thermally welded to said intermediate sheet along said spine and through said inner cover sheet.
A process for fabricating an album, comprising:
- (a) providing an album cover comprising an inner cover sheet of a thermoplastic material and an outer cover sheet of a thermoplastic material secured to one another in superposed relation forming a front cover and a rear cover separated by a spine, said album cover including an intermediate sheet of a thermoplastic material weld-incompatible with the thermoplastic materials of said inner cover sheet and said outer cover sheet, said intermediate sheet retained between said inner cover sheet and said outer cover sheet and extending along said spine;
- (b) providing a plurality of leaves of a thermoplastic material weld-compatible with the thermoplastic material of said intermediate sheet;
- and
- (c) thermally welding said leaves to said intermediate sheet along said spine and through said inner cover sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.