Abstract:
A door mounted document holder having a panel having a pair of opposed sides having a curvilinear profile for supporting the side edges of documents and a curvilinear base for supporting the bottom of the document, a gap formed between the bottom of the curvilinear sides and the curvilinear base for facilitating access to the documents from the bottom, and optionally an indicator reversibly movable from a first position to a second position for communicating information to a user.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to door mountable document holders, and more particularly to a mountable document holder suitable for holding documents and papers in a neat and orderly manner, while facilitating easy access and visibility of the held documents or papers to the user.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Document holders can typically be fabricated for mounting on vertical surfaces such as walls and doors have been used to organize documents and the like and to hold documents at an elevated position off a vertical surface such as, for example, on the door of a medical examining room. Typically, such mountable document holders include one or more thin box-like receptacles that can be mounted on the vertical surface each with an open top for receiving the documents to be held.  
         [0003]     There is a need for a mountable document holder that can effectively hold documents, while providing enhanced access, visibility and easy retrieval of the documents. There is also a need to provide a mountable document holder that includes a readily visible indicator for showing information to the user.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present invention is generally directed to mountable document holders designed to accommodate and hold one or more documents in a neat and orderly arrangement and to provide the user with enhanced visibility and access thereto. The mountable document holder of the present invention includes a panel suitably adapted for mounting on a fixed vertical surface such as a wall or a door (hereinafter collectively referred to as a mounted document holder). The mountable document holder further includes a base portion extending from the panel for supporting the bottom of the document placed thereon, and a pair of opposing side portions extending from the panel for supporting the sides of the document. The base portion is set apart from the side portions thereby defining a gap, which provides enhanced visibility and access to the document. The mountable document holder may further include an indicator for visually communicating information to the user. The mountable document holder of the present invention is easy to fabricate and mount on a fixed vertical substrate, while providing a convenient means for receiving and retaining documents.  
         [0005]     In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mountable document holder for supporting documents therein, comprising: 
        a panel having a pair of opposed curvilinear sides for supporting the side edges of the documents and a curvilinear base for supporting the bottom of the document, said opposed sides being spaced apart from the base so as to form a gap for facilitating access to the documents; and     means for mounting the holder to a vertically oriented substrate.        
 
         [0008]     In a more particular aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mountable document holder for supporting documents therein, comprising: 
        a panel mountable on a vertical surface including means for retaining at least one document operatively associated with the panel;     an indicator operatively associated with the retaining means, wherein said indicator is adapted to be reversibly movable from a first position to a second position for visually communicating information to a user; and     means for mounting the holder to a vertically oriented substrate.       
 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     The following drawings are illustrative of embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention as encompassed by the claims forming part of the application.  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mountable document holder containing a file folder drawn in phantom for one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is an exploded assembly view of the mountable document holder of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3A  is a front elevational view of a mountable document holder with an indicator moved to a first operating position in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3B  is a front elevational view of the mountable document holder of  FIG. 3A  with the indicator moved to a second operating position in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a rear elevational view of the mountable document holder of  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of the indicator. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     The present invention is directed to a mountable document holder, which is designed to provide convenient placement and retrieval of documents on a fixed vertical surface such as a wall or a door. The mountable document holder facilitates easy access and good visibility of the documents, while maintaining a visually pleasing appearance. In addition, the mountable document holder provides curvilinear sides and base to draw the documents contained within the holder toward each other thus preventing creasing or folding of the document.  
         [0020]     The mountable document holder may further include an indicator, which may be manually set by the user to visually communicate to a user information or status of the room to which the door is attached (e.g. room is occupied or patient status) that may be relevant or associated with the documents. The mountable document holder is cost effective and easy to make and use.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a mountable document holder  10  is shown for one embodiment of the present invention. The mountable document holder  10  is adapted to be fastened to a fixed vertical surface (see  FIG. 4 ) such as a door or a wall by any suitable means such as clips, hooks, adhesives, hook and eye devices, and the like, for reversibly receiving and retaining therein a document  12 . The mountable document holder  10  includes a substantially flat panel  14  suitably adapted for secure flush mounting with the fixed vertical surface. The mountable document holder  10  further includes a curvilinear base portion  16  that extends from the lower end of the panel  14  to form a curvilinear support surface  18  capable of supporting the bottom of the document  12  and drawing documents together to prevent folding or creasing, and a pair of opposed curvilinear side portions  20  each extending from an opposed side end of the panel  14  suitably adapted to confine the ends of the document  12  so that it is retained within the holder  10  and so that the documents can be drawn together to prevent folding or creasing. The panel  14 , the base portion  16  and the side portions  20 , in combination, define a holding space  22  suitable for receiving and holding one or more documents.  
         [0022]     The side portions  20  are each set apart from the base portion  16  to form corresponding access gaps  24  therebetween proximate the lower portion of the mountable document holder  10 . The access gaps  24  facilitate access for the user to the document  12  retained in the holding space  22  by allowing the user to retrieve the document  12 . The user can grasp a lower portion of the document  12  through one of the access gaps  24 , and slide the document  12  through the access gaps  24  to facilitate retrieval. The configuration of the side portions  20  provides secure retainment of the document  12 , while maintaining easy access from below.  
         [0023]     The mountable document holder  10  may further include an indicator tab assembly  26  pivotably mounted to the base portion  16  for conveying information to the user. The indicator tab assembly  26  includes a pivot end  28  and a distal end  30 . The distal end  30  of the indicator tab assembly  26  is freely movable around the pivot end  28 . For one embodiment of the present invention, the indicator tab assembly  26  may further include a view window  32  to display or designate the specific information to be visually conveyed to the user. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the indicator tab assembly  26  is rotatably connected to a pivot port  34 . The information to be visually indicated by the indicator tab assembly  26  may be printed on the face area  36  of the base portion  16  and is highlighted when the new window  32  is placed directly over a specific item of information.  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the indicator tab assembly  26  is adapted to rotatably move from a first position (as shown best in  FIG. 3A ) to a second position (as best shown in  FIG. 3B ). In this embodiment, the face area  36  of the base portion  16  includes indicia  38  and  40  printed thereon. As shown in  FIG. 3A , the indicator tab  26  is suitably positioned to highlight the indicia  40  through the view window  32 , thus indicating, in this example, that the room to which the mountable document holder  10  is associated is occupied. As shown in  FIG. 3B , the indicator tab  26  is positioned to highlight the indicia  38  through the view window  32  to indicate that the room is available for occupancy.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the mountable document holder  10  may further include an adhesive pad  42  applied to a rear portion of the panel  14  to facilitate mounting on a fixed surface.  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the pivot end  28  of the indicator tab assembly  26  includes a pair of outwardly biased fingers  44  adapted for insertion into the pivot port  34  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). The fingers  44  couple into the pivot port  34  in a snap-in configuration to provide a secure pivotably movable connection between the indicator tab assembly  26  and the base portion  16 .  
         [0027]     The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.