Albums can be used to store and preserve different types of cards. For example, collectors of greeting cards, postcards, photographs, brochures, stamps, or other generally flat items typically store their collections in an album or other type of portfolio for ready retrieval and viewing. Different types of albums are available for sale from various suppliers.
There is on the market a storage album for greeting cards. The album is a loose leaf-type binder that has heat-sealed polypropylene pages for storing the greeting cards. Each page has a clear plastic pocket or pockets that can accommodate a wide range of sizes of greeting cards. The center backing sheet is generally an opaque polypropylene, such as a black nonwoven fabric. Polypropylene is commonly used for such album pages because it is archival and less expensive than sheets of other plastics.
Although such greeting card album pages are generally usable for their intended purpose, they nevertheless have certain drawbacks. One drawback to such prior art album pages is that the greeting cards inserted into the pockets have a tendency to slide from the pages as the pages are turned. An example of a prior art album page is shown in FIG. 1A. For ease of manufacture, a front pocket is affixed to the right side of the front of the page, and a rear pocket is affixed to the left side of the back of the page. Vertically opening greeting cards mounted on the front of the page can be displayed and viewed in the conventional manner (FIGS. 1B front and 1C front). However, horizontally opening cards cannot be suitably displayed on the back of the page (FIGS. 1B back and 1C back). Due to the way the pages are constructed, horizontally opening greeting cards can only be inserted upside-down in the rear pocket if the frontfolds are to remain open for viewing the inside of the card. A horizontally opening greeting card inserted in the rear pocket must be removed and rotated 180° for viewing right-side up.
Album pages are typically manufactured from plastic materials. However, plastics such as polypropylene have a low coefficient of friction, and paper greeting cards which are inserted in pockets of such pages have a tendency to slide about in the albums. The greeting cards also sometimes slip out of the pockets, especially as the album pages are turned. When greeting cards are inserted in the album pages of FIG. 1 and the pages are turned (as shown in FIG. 2), the cards can slip down and out of the pockets, and consequently become bent, folded, or damaged.
With prior greeting card albums, the cards are generally either completely inserted into a pocket, and therefore the entire card must be removed from the pocket in order to view its contents; or only the backfolds are inserted into the pockets, and the frontfolds are generally free to flap about as the pages are turned. However, the flapping frontfold of one greeting card can engage the frontfold of another card mounted on the opposite page, causing the cards to slide about even more within the pockets.
Although drawbacks associated with vertically opening greeting cards have been described above, similar issues reside with album pages for horizontally opening greeting cards. That is, the cards can slip out of the pockets, when the album pages are turned or if the album is turned upside down.
In an attempt to prevent sliding of the cards from the pockets as the pages are turned, one manufacturer provides small double faced adhesive tabs to be affixed to the backfolds of the cards. However, this solution can be annoying to the consumer, and requires that the manufacture keep stock of an additional item which must be packaged and shipped with the album pages. In addition, over time, the adhesive can possibly damage the card.
Therefore, there is a need for improved album pages for secure storage of cards in the pockets of the album pages as the pages are turned.