Photo album assembly and package

Claim 2

A photo package comprising: a book-like cover including a front cover panel, a spine panel, and a rear cover panel, the front and rear cover panels being hinged to opposite sides of the spine panel; a pair of retainers, mounted in the album cover adjacent opposite ends of the spine panel and immediately adjacent to one of the cover panels, with the retainers facing each other but separated by a retainer spacing R less than the height of the spine panel; a plurality of N thin, elongated, bendable binder members each of length L, height H, and thickness T, so that L>>H>>T with L somewhat larger than R; each binder member having two slots, one at each end of the binder member, for engaging the two retainers to mount the binder member in the album cover parallel to the spine panel, each slot having an overall length S at least equal to one-half the difference between L and R; and each binder member including a flexible hinge tape extending along the edge of the binder member opposite the spine panel, and an adhesive photo mounting strip, parallel to and projecting away from each hinge strip, for mounting a photo in the album; and N photographs each mounted on one of the photo mounting strips.

Claim 3

A photo package according to claim 1 in which: each retainer is an open rectangular member formed of rigid plastic of width W, having a retainer wall facing the other retainer; each binder member slot is Y-shaped; and the width of the leg portion of each binder member slot is larger than W so that the binder member mounts readily on the two retainers.

Claim 4

A photo package according to claim 2 in which: the two retainer members are affixed to an angular mounting and reinforcement member; and the mounting and reinforcement member is mounted on the one cover panel.

Claim 5

A photo package according to claim 1 in which each binder member is formed as a unified, integral member including both the hinge tape and an integral photo mounting strip.

Claim 6

A photo album assembly comprising: a book-like cover including a front cover panel, a spine panel, and a rear cover panel, the front and rear cover panels being hinged to opposite sides of the spine panel; a pair of retainers; means for mounting the retainers in the cover adjacent opposite ends of the spine panel and immediately adjacent to one of the cover panels, with the retainers facing each other but separated by a retainer spacing R less than the height of the spine panel; a plurality of thin, elongated, bendable binder members each of length L, height H, and thickness T, so that L>>H>>T with L somewhat larger than R; each binder member having two slots, one at each end of the binder member, for engaging the two retainers to mount the binder member in the album cover parallel to the spine panel, each slot having an overall length S at least equal to one-half the difference between L and R; N flexible hinge tapes each extending along an edge of one binder member opposite the spine panel; and N adhesive photo mounting strips, each parallel to and projecting away from one hinge tape, for mounting a photograph in the album.

Claim 7

A photo album assembly comprising: a book-like cover including a front cover panel, a spine panel, and a rear cover panel, the front and rear cover panels being hinged to opposite sides of the spine panel; a pair of retainers; means for mounting the retainers in the cover adjacent opposite ends of the spine panel and immediately adjacent to one of the cover panels, with the retainers facing each other but separated by a retainer spacing R less than the height of the spine panel; a plurality of thin, elongated, bendable binder members each of length L, height H, and thickness T, so that L>>H>>T with L somewhat larger than R; each binder member having two slots, one at each end of the binder member, for engaging the two retainers to mount the binder member in the album cover parallel to the spine panel, each slot having an overall length S at least equal to one-half the difference between L and R; N flexible hinge tapes each extending along an edge of one binder member opposite the spine panel; and N adhesive photo mounting strips, each parallel to and projecting away from one hinge tape, for mounting a photograph in the album.

Claim 8

A photo album assembly according to claim 5 in which: each retainer is an open rectangular member formed of rigid plastic of width W, having a retainer wall facing the other retainer; each binder member slot is Y-shaped; and the width of the leg portion of each binder member slot is larger than W so that the binder member mounts readily on the two retainers.

Claim 9

A photo album assembly according to claim 6 in which: the two retainer members are affixed to an angular mounting and reinforcement member; and the mounting and reinforcement member is mounted on a stiffener member for the one cover panel.

Claim 10

A photo album assembly according to claim 5, in which each hinge tape is adhesively mounted on its associated binder member by means of an adhesive tape mounting strip extending longitudinally of the two.

Claim 11

A photo album assembly according to claim 8 in which the adhesive tape mounting strip is an adhesive coating on the hinge tape.

Claim 12

A photo album assembly according to claim 9 in which each adhesive strip is covered by a release film prior to use.

Claim 13

A photo album assembly according to claim 5 in which each adhesive strip is covered by a release film prior to use.

Claim 14

A photo album assembly according to claim 5 in which each binder member is formed as a unified integral member including both the hinge tape and an integral photo mounting strip.

Claim 15

A photo package according to claim 5, in which each hinge tape is adhesively mounted on its associated binder member by means of an adhesive tape mounting strip extending longitudinally of the two.

Claim 16

A photo album assembly comprising: a book-like cover including a front cover panel, a spine panel, and a rear cover panel, the front and rear cover panels being hinged to opposite sides of the spine panel; a pair of retainers; means for mounting the retainers in the cover adjacent opposite ends of the spine panel and immediately adjacent to one of the cover panels, with the retainers facing each other but separated by a retainer spacing R less than the height of the spine panel; a plurality of thin, elongated binder members each of length L, height H, and thickness T, so that L>>H>>T with L somewhat larger than R; each binder member having two slots, one at each end of the binder member, for engaging the two retainers to mount the binder member in the album cover parallel to the spine panel, each slot having an overall length S at least equal to one-half the difference between L and R; and a corresponding plurality of flexible hinge tapes, one for each binder member, each hinge tape adapted to be mounted along one edge of a binder member, projecting from the binder member in a direction away from the spine panel; each hinge tape having a flexible hinge strip, free of adhesive, that extends along and projects from the one edge of the binder member when the hinge tape is mounted thereon; and each hinge tape further having an adhesive photo mounting strip, parallel to the hinge strip but on the opposite side of the hinge strip from the binder member, for mounting a photograph in the album.

Claim 17

A photo album assembly comprising: a book-like cover including a front cover panel, a spine panel, and a rear cover panel, the front and rear cover panels being hinged to opposite sides of the spine panel; a pair of retainers; means for mounting the retainers in the cover adjacent opposite ends of the spine panel and immediately adjacent to one of the cover panels, with the retainers facing each other but separated by a retainer spacing R less than the height of the spine panel; a plurality of thin, elongated binder members each of length L, height H, and thickness T, so that L>>H>>T with L somewhat larger than R; each binder member having two slots, one at each end of the binder member, for engaging the two retainers to mount the binder member in the album cover parallel to the spine panel, each slot having an overall length S at least equal to one-half the difference between L and R; and a corresponding plurality of flexible hinge tapes, one for each binder member, each hinge tape adapted to be mounted along one edge of a binder member, projecting from the binder member in a direction away from the spine panel; each hinge tape having a flexible hinge strip, free of adhesive, that extends along and projects from the one edge of the binder member when the hinge tape is mounted thereon; and each hinge tape further having an adhesive photo mounting strip, parallel to the hinge strip but on the opposite side of the hinge strip from the binder member, for mounting a photograph in the album.

Claim 18

A photo album assembly according to claim 14 in which: each retainer is an open box-shaped member formed of rigid plastic of width W, having a retainer wall facing the other retainer; each binder member slot is Y-shaped; and the width of the leg portion of each binder member slot is larger than W so that the binder member mounts readily on the two retainers.

Claim 19

A photo album assembly according to claim 15 in which: the two retainer members are affixed to an angular mounting and reinforcement member; and the mounting and reinforcement member is mounted on a stiffener member for the one cover panel.

Claim 20

A photo album assembly according to claim 9 in which each adhesive strip is covered by a release film prior to use.