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US 8,985,633 B2Granted
Foldable pop-up article
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorDouglas P. Bodziak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foldable and unfoldable pop-up article with a tensioning member.
Claims20
A foldable and unfoldable pop-up article, comprising:
- a backing with a width and a length and with a primary folding axis that extends the width of the backing and with at least one secondary folding axis that is oriented at an angle that is at least about 30 degrees away from the primary folding axis and that extends the length of the backing;
- and, at least one tensioning member with a long axis that is oriented at least 30 degrees away from the at least one secondary folding axis and that is tensionably engaged with the backing at first and second engagement locations of the backing,
- wherein the at least one secondary folding axis is a single secondary folding axis that is oriented within plus or minus 5 degrees of orthogonal to the primary folding axis and wherein the long axis of the tensioning member is oriented within plus or minus 5 degrees of orthogonal to the single secondary folding axis,
- wherein the primary folding axis comprises at least one primary hinged connection that divides the backing into first and second major vertical portions that are hingedly connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other about the primary folding axis, and wherein the secondary folding axis comprises a secondary hinged connection that divides the backing into first and second major horizontal portions that are hingedly connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other about the secondary folding axis,
- wherein the article is foldable about the secondary folding axis from a first, open position in which the first and second major vertical portions of the backing, and the first and second major horizontal portions of the backing, are all generally coplanar with each other, into a third, popped-up position in which the first and second major horizontal portions form an included angle with each other of from about 130 degrees to about 30 degrees, and,
- wherein the first major horizontal portion comprises a first horizontal edge and wherein the second major horizontal portion comprises a second horizontal edge, and wherein the article is configured so that when the article is in the third, popped-up position the article can rest upon a gravitationally-horizontal surface with the first and second horizontal edges in contact with the surface and with the secondary folding axis comprising the gravitationally-uppermost portion of the article, with the tensioning member being tensioned sufficiently to prevent the article from unfolding into the first, open position under the force of gravity.
3 more elements
A foldable and unfoldable pop-up article, comprising:
- a backing with a width and a length and with a primary folding axis that extends the width of the backing and with at least one secondary folding axis that is oriented at an angle that is at least about 30 degrees away from the primary folding axis and that extends the length of the backing;
- and,
- at least one tensioning member with a long axis that is oriented at least 30 degrees away from the at least one secondary folding axis and that is tensionably engaged with the backing at first and second engagement locations of the backing;
- wherein the at least one secondary folding axis is a single secondary folding axis that is oriented within plus or minus 5 degrees of orthogonal to the primary folding axis and wherein the long axis of the tensioning member is oriented within plus or minus 5 degrees of orthogonal to the single secondary folding axis,
- wherein the primary folding axis comprises at least one primary hinged connection that divides the backing into first and second major vertical portions that are hingedly connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other about the primary folding axis, and wherein the secondary folding axis comprises a secondary hinged connection that divides the backing into first and second major horizontal portions that are hingedly connected to each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other about the secondary folding axis,
- wherein the article is foldable about the secondary folding axis from a first, open position in which the first and second major vertical portions of the backing, and the first and second major horizontal portions of the backing, are all generally coplanar with each other, into a third, popped-up position in which the first and second major horizontal portions form an included angle with each other of from about 130 degrees to about 30 degrees, and,
- wherein the tensioning member is tensioned sufficiently so as to bias the article toward the third, popped-up position with sufficient force that when the article is in the first, open position, the article will spontaneously fold into the third, popped-up position unless an outside force is exerted on the article to prevent it from folding into the third position.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.