Book support rack

Claim 1

A book support comprising: a. a base member; b. a book supporting rack; c. articulated arm members connected between the base member and the rack and adjustable to position the supporting rack in a desired reading position, and d. said book supporting rack comprising an upright channel member having an intermediate point on one face connected to one of said arm members by universal joint means and opening on its other face toward the plane in which the book is to be supported; a transverse lower channel opening upwardly to support a book and the channel being fixed to said upright channel member and disposed at right angles across its other face; an upper transverse channel opening downwardly to support a book and disposed at right angles across said other face of the upright channel member and clamped thereto by slidable means so that the upper channel can be vertically positioned thereon to accomodate different-height books; and page retaining means comprising a rod passed through horizontally aligned holes in said upright channel member and extending outwardly on each side thereof to lie between said upper and lower channels, and a helical spring having a relaxed inside diameter less than the rod diameter applied onto the rod near each of its opposed ends, and a page retaining finger extending from each of the springs and bent around to yieldably overlie and retain the pages against the book.