Hardback books are valuable. They are expensive to purchase. They also are valuable because they are handy reference materials that can be easily pulled off a shelf. The sentimental value of some books, such as family Bibles and high school yearbooks, is immeasurable.
Despite their value, books are not made to be very durable. Their hardback covers, pages, and bindings are easily worn down and damaged during use and shelf storage. Book covers are commonly used to protect the hardback covers of books from wear and tear, but these book covers do not provide any protective support for the bindings (spine) and pages.
Damage to a book's spine during shelf storage can be severe, especially to books that have a significant number of pages (i.e., "thick" books). The problem is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows the characteristic "sag" that hardback book pages exhibit during shelf storage. This "sag" is the vertical deformation of pages of a book while it rests on a shelf. The deformation is due to the weight of the pages when the pages cannot be supported by the book binding, although in some instances, the sag is caused by the improper manufacturing of the book. Eventually, binding failure, shown in FIG. 2, will occur. Because the binding cannot support the pages, the glue or fabric that holds the pages to the binding will fail, causing blocks of pages to separate from the binding. Repairing this damage can be laborious and expensive.
At present, when books are stored vertically on a shelf, pressure needs to be applied to the front and back covers of the books in order to prevent sag and book binding damage. The pressure allows the pages to support each other's weight through friction between the pages. However, adequate pressure must come from bookends or other books on the shelf. When insufficient pressure is applied or when a book is removed from the shelf, the ideal storage condition for that book and the other books remaining on the shelf is destroyed.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a support for the binding and pages of a book so as to prevent sag and binding damage. Further, the support must be inexpensive, easy to manufacture, and convenient to use on varying thicknesses of books. There is no known device that accomplishes these objectives. The inventors' book support invention solves the problems discussed above and is summarized below.