Photo mat with alignment grid and method of using the same
A photo mat includes a base, a grid, and at least one adhesive strip. The base includes a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base. The grid and the at least one adhesive strip are disposed on the rear surface of the base, and the grid includes a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines that are generally perpendicular to each other.
The present disclosure generally relates to photo mats for displaying graphic materials and, more specifically, to photo mats having an alignment grid for aligning the graphic materials to the photo mat, and a method of using the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSUREMountings for photos and, more particularly, photo mats for mounting pictures in frames, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,553 discloses a mount for photographs having a back panel and a mounting panel. The back panel includes indices and adhesive strips to locate and adhere the photo on the back panel. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,423 discloses a self-sticking page for photo albums, production scheduling charts, presentation pages, advertising layouts and the like. The self-sticking page includes a board or support member having a pair of transparent sheets associated therewith.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,770 discloses materials and a method for mounting a picture in accurate relation on a sheet of mount material and providing a mat with a picture viewing opening of the correct size to frame the picture and provide the proper overlap of the mat onto the edges of the picture adjacent the picture viewing opening, thereby making a neat mounted and matted picture. The mount is provided with coordinate guide means marking equal distance intervals extending horizontally and vertically in opposite directions from intersecting horizontal and vertical axes through a selected central point on said mount, identifying means for selected of said coordinate guide means, and a sheet of mat material having coordinate guide means and identifying means similar to the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mount for use as guides in cutting the picture viewing opening through the mat material, the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mat material corresponding to the coordinate guide means and identifying means on said mount being closer to said horizontal and vertical axes by the amount of the desired overlap of the mat onto the edges of the picture at the edges of the picture viewing opening.
In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,933 discloses a picture framing system for mounting, displaying and protecting a photograph or work of art on a vertical surface of ferrous metal, non-ferrous metal, or a non-metallic surface without using nails. The picture framing system includes a sleeve or pocket-type photograph holder which can be used with various styles of mats and picture frames for mounting, displaying, and protecting the photograph against the flat vertical surface, such as a refrigerator door or dining room wall. The picture framing system includes a flexible sheet having an adhesive front surface for attachment to the photograph holder and a magnetized rear surface for permitting the attachment of either type of photograph holder to a ferrous metal surface. The picture framing system also includes a flat, flexible ferro-magnetic sheet having a front magnetically-attractive surface and a rear adhesive surface for allowing either type of photograph holder and the picture frame to be mounted on a non-ferrous metal surface or any non-metallic surface. In addition, the picture framing system includes a centering tool for centering the photograph or art work on the mat and within the sleeve or pocket-type photograph holder and also within the picture frame.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIn accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a photo mat including a base, a grid, and at least one adhesive strip is disclosed. The base includes a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base. The grid is disposed on the rear surface of the base and includes a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines that are generally perpendicular to each other. The at least one adhesive area is disposed on the rear surface.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a display device including a photo mat and a frame adapted to receive the photo mat is disclosed. The photo mat includes a base, a grid, and at least one adhesive strip. The base includes a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base. The grid is disposed on the rear surface of the base and includes a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines that are generally perpendicular to each other. The at least one adhesive area is disposed on the rear surface.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of positioning an image on a photo mat is disclosed. The method includes aligning the image to at least one grid located on a rear surface of the photo mat, wherein the grid is aligned to an opening in the photo mat. The method further includes adhering the image to at least one adhesive area located on the rear surface of the photo mat.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the method and device described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings and with specific reference to
The photo mat 20, as seen in
The base 21, as seen in
In one exemplary embodiment, the opening 22 may be located near a center of the photo mat 20, but the opening 22 may be located anywhere in the perimeter of the photo mat 20. The opening 22, like the perimeter of the photo mat 20, may have one or more edges which may correspond to the shape of the perimeter. In this exemplary embodiment, the opening 22 has a generally rectangular shape and, as such, includes an upper edge 42, a lower edge 44, a first side edge 46, and a second side edge 48, wherein the upper and lower edges 42, 44 are substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the first and second side edges 46, 48. The shape of the opening 22 may, however, be round, square, triangular, oval, odd shaped or a combination thereof, and may, therefore, have the corresponding number of edges.
The grid 24, as seen in
The grid 24 may, however, be adapted to function with photo mats having various shapes and configurations. For example, the grid 24 may be disposed on the rear surface 32 of a photo mat and/or opening 22 that is round, square, triangular, oval, odd shaped or a combination thereof. Similarly, the grid 24 may have such shapes and configurations to align an other than four sided image to the opening 22.
The one or more adhesive areas 26, as seen in
Additionally and/or alternatively, the photo mat 20 may be a page, or a part of the page, in a photo album 60, as seen in
For reasons of clarity and brevity, the following operation will be described while referring to a photo mat 20 having the pair of grids 24a, 24b and a pair of adhesive areas 26a, 26b located near the opening 22 as described previously, but may be used with any number of grids 24 and adhesive areas 26 located anywhere on the rear surface 32 of the photo mat 20.
In operation, as seen in
The image 28 may be adhered to the photo mat 20 by then pressing the image 28 against the adhesive areas 26a and 26b. If desired, the user may remove the image 28 from one or more of the adhesive areas 26 by simply pulling the image 28 from the adhesive areas 26, and may reposition or replace the image 28 as described previously. The photo mat 20, after and/or before the image 28 is placed thereon, may be disposed into a display device, such as a frame 50, as seen in
While the above has been described with reference to specific examples which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A photo mat comprising:
- a base having a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base;
- a grid disposed on the rear surface having a first plurality of parallel lines, and a second plurality of parallel lines, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are generally perpendicular to the second plurality of parallel lines; and
- at least one adhesive area disposed on the rear surface.
2. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the base has one of a generally rectangular and a square shape.
3. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the opening has one of a generally rectangular and a square shape.
4. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the opening and the base have the same general shape.
5. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
6. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the second plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
7. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the grid includes a first grid disposed adjacent a first edge of the opening and a second grid disposed adjacent a second edge of the opening, the first and second edges being generally parallel to each other.
8. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein a first adhesive area is disposed adjacent a first edge of the opening and a second adhesive area is disposed adjacent a second edge of the opening, the first and second edges being generally parallel to each other.
9. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the grid includes a first grid disposed adjacent a first edge of the opening and a second grid disposed adjacent a second edge of the opening, the first and second edges being generally parallel to each other, and a first adhesive area disposed adjacent a third edge of the opening and a second adhesive area disposed adjacent a fourth edge of the opening, the third and fourth edges being generally parallel to each other.
10. The photo mat of claim 1, wherein the at least one adhesive area is constructed from a multi-use adhesive strip.
11. A display device, comprising:
- a photo mat including a base having a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base, a grid disposed on the rear surface having a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are generally perpendicular to the second plurality of parallel lines, and at least one adhesive area disposed on the rear surface; and
- a frame adapted to receive the photo mat.
12. The display device of claim 11, wherein the opening has one of a generally rectangular and a square shape.
13. The display device of claim 1 1, wherein the opening and the base have the same general shape.
14. The display device of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
15. The display device of claim 11, wherein the second plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
16. The display device of claim 11, wherein the grid includes a first grid disposed adjacent a first edge of the opening and a second grid disposed adjacent a second edge of the opening, the first and second edges being generally parallel to each other, and a first adhesive area disposed adjacent a third edge of the opening and a second adhesive area disposed adjacent a fourth edge of the opening, the third and fourth edges being generally parallel to each other.
17. A photo album, comprising:
- a body including a mechanism to receive a plurality of album pages; and
- at least one of the plurality of album pages including a base having a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening disposed within a perimeter of the base, a grid disposed on the rear surface having a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are generally perpendicular to the second plurality of parallel lines, and at least one adhesive area disposed on the rear surface.
18. The photo album of claim 17, wherein the opening has one of a generally rectangular and square shape.
19. The photo album of claim 17, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
20. The photo album of claim 17, wherein the second plurality of parallel lines are equally spaced from each other.
21. The photo album of claim 17, wherein the grid includes a first grid disposed adjacent a first edge of the opening and a second grid disposed adjacent a second edge of the opening, the first and second edges being generally parallel to each other, and a first adhesive are disposed adjacent a third edge of the opening and a second adhesive area disposed adjacent a fourth edge of the opening, the third and fourth edges being generally parallel to each other.
22. A method of displaying an image on a photo mat, comprising:
- providing at least one grid on a rear surface of the photo album, the grid having a first plurality of parallel lines and a second plurality of parallel lines, wherein the first plurality of parallel lines are generally perpendicular to the second plurality of parallel lines;
- aligning the image to the at least one grid, wherein the at least one grid is aligned to an opening in the photo mat; and
- adhering a front surface of the image to at least one adhesive area located on the rear surface of the photo mat.
23. The method of positioning an image of claim 22, further including removing a backing from the adhesive area.
24. The method of positioning an image of claim 22, further including aligning the image to a second grid portion located on the rear surface of the photo mat.
25. The method of positioning an image of claim 22, further including adhering the front surface of the image to a second adhesive area located on the rear surface of the photo mat.
26. The method of positioning an image of claim 22, further including placing the photo mat into a photo frame.
27. The method of positioning an image of claim 22, further including placing the photo mat into a photo album as part of a page.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 26, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 26, 2006
Inventor: Mark Vanderberg (Georgetown, TX)
Application Number: 10/898,812
International Classification: A47G 1/06 (20060101);