History

PageFlip

Automatic Page Turners for Hands-Free Reading

History

PageFlip Lite Automatic Page Turner

The subject of automatic page turning dates back over a century. A patent review reveals that as early as 1874, Rinderknecht (US Patent 151,159) patented a page turning device that used a series of fingers to turn multiple sheets of music one at a time with a complex arrangement of pulley, plates, and rope actuated by a handle. In 1890, Leevey described a foot-operated mechanical device that turned pages using a foot pedal, cords, springs, and mechanical arms (US Patent 425,810). These devices were complex, large, heavy, and cumbersome. To this day, there are over sixty patents on the subject but virtually all of them are marred by complexity and a lack of consideration for ill-behaved books that readily close upon themselves. The cartoon shown below is a satire to the level of complexity shared by many designs.

Our patent-pending design solves many of the traditional problems with page turners. We have identified three processes that all page turning devices must address: engagement, transport, and restraint. The engagement process refers to the act of fetching, or lifting, a single page. This can be achieved by means of suction tubes, friction wheels, adhesives, clips, magnetic tabs, or torpedo tabs. Once the page is engaged, it may be transported (turned) by many possible means, including a rotating arm, rotating page disks, spring mechanism, or linear movable arm. Throughout these processes, some page restraint mechanism must ensure that underlying pages are held in place so that the book may be opened flat.

To date, an effective automatic page turner has not been successfully commercialized in large quantities due to technical challenges relating to these three processes, which we deem essential for proper hands-free operation. Despite many patents on the subject dating back to 1874, there has been a dearth of viable products. The root of this problem can be attributed to the fact that the prior art addressed at most two of the three processes necessary for reliable operation. This explains why virtually no patent in this area has led to a device capable of achieving sufficiently reliable performance to realize commercial viability and success. Thanks to federal SBIR funding, we have made progress in this area and now offer our revolutionary solution. Our product is the lowest-cost bidirectional page turner on the market. It supports a unique wireless foot pedal that is especially useful for musicians who do not want to expose cables around their piano or music stand.