1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photo albums, and in particular to a flexible photo album having a soft cover and a plurality of pages for holding photographs, pictures or other substantially flat objects.
2. Background of the Invention
Photo albums are an easy way to store several photos in a way so that they may be viewed by simply opening the album and turning the pages. While persons of all ages may enjoy looking at photographs or pictures, prior albums are difficult for infants or small children to use.
Prior albums generally have a hard cover to protect the pages of the album containing pictures. The pages themselves often have hard surfaces as well to provide support for each page. The hard materials from which prior albums are constructed, however, contribute to the overall weight and bulkiness of the album. Prior albums are thus typically very difficult for infants and small children to grasp or hold. In addition, due to the type of materials from which such albums are constructed, the albums themselves are hard and inflexible. A baby can easily injure himself or herself against such a hard object as these albums.
The pages of photo albums are often thin with sharp edges. In addition, the edges of the page usually meet to form a sharp edge, such as a 90.degree. angle. Both sharp edges and sharp corners can cause injury to an infant, especially since an infant is likely to place the album in its mouth.
In addition, infants and children can easily damage the album pages or photos on the page in photo albums. For example, if the photo is affixed or attached to the surface of the page, the photo remains exposed and susceptible to damage from water, dirt, saliva and the like. Furthermore, the pages of photo albums are not generally sturdy enough to withstand repeated use by an infant who, rather than carefully turning each page, is likely to tug, pull, bang, drool, etc. on each page. Thus, these pages can be easily torn, ripped or otherwise damaged.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds