WALL CALENDAR AND METHOD FOR PLANNING AND/OR COORDINATING ACTIVITIES OF A GROUP

Abstract: A wall calendar device for planning and/or coordinating activities of a group of two or more persons and comprising a substantially rectangular plate element, suspension means for suspending the device, one or more, preferably twelve or more, substantially, rectangular first planning sheets attached along one edge thereof to said plate element, at least one second planning sheet attached to said plate element such that each second planning sheet may pivot approximately 180 degrees so as to substantially constitute an extension of said plate element, said planning sheet being provided with identification means for identifying a certain calendar month and a number of discrete spaces preferably equal to or larger than the number of persons in said group multiplied by the number of days in said calendar month and being suitable for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like, and said planning sheet being provided with suitable discrete spaces for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like.

Description: WALL CALENDAR AND METHOD FOR PLANNING AND/OR COORDINATING ACTIVITIES OF A GROUP The present invention relates to a wall calendar device for planning and/or coordinating activities of a group of two or more persons. Known wall calendars comprise twelve sheets attached to a backing panel and provided with printing representing the days of a month. Any planning or coordination is done in the margins or wherever there is a space available. This results in an untidy and error- prone planning with few possibilities of carrying out a systematic and reliable planning and coordination understandable by all members of the group of persons in question. DE 199 22 900 discloses a wall calendar of the above described type having an additional sheet with a surface having dry-erasable properties pivotably attached to the backing panel. The additional sheet is intended for use as an erasable notice board where messages and the like may be applied for being read by members of a group of people having access to the calendar. The planning and coordinating properties of this known wall calendar are somewhat enhanced by the additional sheet, but a systematical and reliable planning and coordination is not possible because of the transient and limited nature of the information that is applied to the additional sheet. The object of the invention is to provide an improved wall calendar device by means of which a reliable and systematic coordination and planning of the activities of a group of persons may be carried out taking into consideration a relatively large amount of planning information either available initially or becoming available in the course of time. According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a wall calendar device comprising a substantially rectangular plate element having opposed first and second surfaces, opposed top and bottom edges and two opposed lateral edges, suspension means for suspending the device such that said top edge is located considerably, preferably substantially vertically, above said bottom edge, one or more, preferably twelve or more, substantially rectangular first planning sheets having opposed front and back surfaces and being attached along one edge thereof to said plate element proximate said top edge thereof such that said back surface overlies said first surface, at least one second planning sheet having opposed primary and secondary surfaces and being attached to said plate element such that each second planning sheet may pivot approximately 180 degrees from a first position overlying one of said first and second surfaces and a second position wherein said primary surface is located in substantially the same plane as said first surface and substantially constitutes an extension thereof such that said front surface of one of said first planning sheets and said primary surface are visible simultaneously, said front surface being provided with identification means for identifying a certain calendar month and first definition means, preferably printing, for defining a plurality of first discrete spaces at least equal to the number of days in said calendar month and preferably equal to or larger than the number of persons in said group multiplied by said number of days, the surface of said first spaces being suitable for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like, and said primary surface being provided with second definition means for defining a plurality of second discrete spaces, the surface of said second spaces being suitable for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like. The wall calendar device according to the invention provides a combination of predetermined spaces for inserting information in a systematic manner in a relatively simple device adapted for being centrally displayed and being accessible in a simple and easily understandable manner by all members of the group. Thereby, the planning and coordination may be carried out by all members in the group within the framework defined by the first and second definition means and in a manner readily understandable by the other members of the group. In the currently preferred embodiment of a wall calendar device, said plurality of first discrete spaces constitutes an array of rows and columns, each row corresponding to a certain day of the month, and at least one column being allocated to each member of said group. The currently preferred embodiment of a wall calendar device according to the invention is for use for a group of persons constituted by a family comprising at least one parent and at least one child, and in which device said plurality of first discrete spaces constitutes an array of rows and columns, each row corresponding to a certain day of the month, and at least one column being allocated to each member of said family, and said plurality of second discrete spaces comprises a school subject schedule form for being filled out for at least one child in said family. Hereby, a particularly useful planning and coordinating tool is achieved for a family where it is required that the planning process be as reliable and easily understandable as possible while still affording a tidy visual impression. In the currently preferred embodiment of a calendar device according to the invention, said second planning sheet is integral with said plate element and constitutes an extension of said plate element, a folding line for pivoting said extension relative to the rest of the plate element from said first position to said second position being constituted by part of or the entire length of said bottom edge or of one of said lateral edges. Hereby, a relatively simple manufacturing process is possible thereby reducing the costs while still affording a robust and attractive construction. Preferably, said first planning sheets are attached to said plate element along said top edge by a hinge means such as a spiral wire with the windings thereof alternately ex- tending through said plate element and said first planning sheets. Hereby, a simple and robust hinge means is achieved for allowing the first planning sheets to be pivoted around to lie against the back of the plate element when having been used, or the first planning sheets having been used may be easily ripped off because of the perforations through which the spiral wire extends. Advantageously, said second definition means are constituted by printing applied directly to said primary surface, or said second definition means are constituted by a separate printed sheet attached to said primary surface. Said separate printed sheet may by attached to said primary surface by means of an adhesive, by being inserted into one or more slits in said second planning sheet or by being inserted between said primary surface and a transparent film attached to said primary surface. Preferably, said suspension means comprise a wire loop attached to said plate element near or at said top edge. In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method of planning and/or coordi- nating activities of a group of two or more persons and comprising the steps of providing a wall calendar device as defined above, filling out the relevant second discrete spaces with the relevant planning or scheduling information by means of writing with a pencil or the like, suspending the calendar device in a location accessible by all persons in said group, and filling out the relevant first discrete spaces based partly on the information in said second discrete spaces and partly on other information becoming available subsequently. In the currently preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, said group of persons is constituted by a family comprising at least one parent and at least one child. In the following the invention will be explained more in detail in connection with different embodiments shown solely by way of example in the accompanying drawings, where Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical perspective view of the currently preferred embodiment a wall calendar device according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical perspective view of a first alternative embodiment of a wall calendar device according to the invention, Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views along line A-A in Fig. 1 illustrating the pivoting of the second planning sheet, Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical plan view of the backing plate element of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical perspective view of a second alternative embodiment of a wall calendar device according to the invention, Fig. 7 is a further more detailed schematical plan view of the currently preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 1 , and Figs. 8-9 are diagrammatical perspective views of third and fourth alternative embodiments of a wall calendar device according to the invention. Referring now to Figs. 1-5, a backing panel plate element 1 of relatively stiff cardboard, plastic laminate or the like is provided with a row of perforations 2 and an indentation 3 at the top edge. A helical wire 4 is threaded through the perforations 2 and through corresponding perforations 5 in the top edge of thirteen stacked calendar sheets 6 such that the calendar sheets 6 are pivotably attached to the backing plate 1 by means of the spiral wire 4. A suspension wire loop 7 is attached to the spiral wire 4 such that the entire calendar device may be suspended from a not shown hook, nail or the like such that the calendar device is visible and freely accessible for writing thereon. The calendar sheets 6 are provided with printed lines 8 defining an array of spaces 9 on the surface of which information may be written by means of a pencil or the like. The calendar sheets are made of relatively stiff paper or any other suitable sheet material having a surface on which a pencil or the like may be used to write. An extension of the backing plate 1 constitutes a planning sheet 10 comprising spaces 11 on the surface of which additional planning information may be written by means of a pencil or the like. The spaces 11 may be further subdivided into a plurality of spaces. The extension or planning sheet 10 is pivotable with respect to the backing plate 1 around a folding line 12 such that it may be pivoted from the position shown in Figs. 3 and 5 through the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The spaces 11 may be established by printing on the surface of the planning sheet 10 or by attaching one or more separate sheets to said surface, said separate sheets in such case having a surface suitable for writing. Referring now to Figs. 2 and 5, two further extensions of the backing plate 1 constitute further planning sheets 13 and 14 that can pivot around folding lines 15 and 15a, respectively, from the position shown in Fig. 5, where the planning sheets 13 and 14 abut the surface of the backing plate 1 , through the position shown in Fig. 2 to a not shown position in the same plane as the extension 10 in Fig. 2. The surfaces of the planning sheets 13 and 14 facing the viewer in Fig. 2 are provided with definition means for defining spaces for writing information in a manner analogous to spaces 11 of planning sheet 10. In use, the spaces 11 on planning sheet 10 and analogous spaces on any further planning sheets are filled out with information regarding activities, schedules and the like for different persons in the group of persons using the calendar device to coordinate and plan the activities of the persons in the group. This information may be to hand initially or may be supplied in the course of time and filled into the spaces as it becomes available. The spaces 9 on the calendar sheets 6 will typically be allocated to the days of the month in the columns, while each column will typically be allocated to one of the persons in the group or to some activity or planning information common to all the persons in the group. By using the information from the planning sheet 10 and any other planning sheets as well as other information, the spaces 9 on the calendar sheets are filled out so as to indicate to all the persons in the group any activities of importance to the individual persons or the entire group. Hereby a very neat, reliable and easily understandable planning tool is provided for the group. Depending on the character of the group, the different spaces 9 and 11 may be identified in different manners, for instance as described below, a school subject schedule for a child, or a shift plan for shift working adults and so on. Referring now to Fig. 6, each of the planning sheets 13 and 14 of Fig. 2 have been sub- stituted by three planning sheets 16-18 and 19-21 , respectively, as extensions of the backing plate 1. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many other ways of providing additional planning sheets are conceivable. The bottom planning sheet 10 may also be subdivided, and the planning sheets may be separate sheets adhered to the backing plate 1 instead of being integral therewith. The separate planning sheets may be attached to the backing plate 1 by means of spiral wires analogous to spiral wire 4. Referring now to Fig. 7 showing a schematical plan view of the currently preferred embodiment of a planning wall calendar device according to the invention, the calendar sheets 6 for each month of a year are provided with a printed matrix or array of spaces organized in columns and rows. The calendar device is designed for coordinating and planning the activities of a family consisting of one or two parents and one or more children. Reckoning from the left in Fig. 7, one column of spaces 9 is allocated to indicate the day of the week and month, one column each for the activities of each of the parents, one column each for the activities of each of the children, one column for common activities and one column for indicating the week number. The additional planning sheet 10 is designed such that the school subject schedule for a maximum of four children can be filled out for being viewed together with and coordinated with the other planning information on calendar sheets 6. Some of the planning information is to hand initially, for instance the school schedule and any shift work scheduling, while other planning information becomes available in the course of time. The initially available information is inserted in the relevant spaces 6 or 11 and the calendar device is suspended such that it can be viewed and written upon by all the members of the family. In this case, the planning sheet 10 with the school schedules will probably be visible at all times, but in other cases where there are several additional planning sheets such as in Fig. 2 or Fig. 6, one or more of such additional planning sheets may be folded in under the calendar sheets 6 when not in use so as to save space and give a tidy visual impression. When the calendar device has not been used yet, the planning sheets will of course also be folded in under the calendar sheets 6 so as to save space for transport, storage etc. The spaces 11 and 9 are established by printing directly on the surface of the calendar sheets 6 and the additional planning sheet 10, but many other ways of establishing the relevant spaces to be filled out are conceivable, for instance as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. In Fig. 8 four transparent film sheets 30 have been adhered at 31 to the surface of the extension sheet 10 so as to provide pockets for inserting separate sheets provided with printing to define the spaces for filling out with planning information. This embodiment has the advantage that the separate sheets inserted in the pockets may be replaced if they become obsolete in the course of time. In Fig. 9 slits 32 have been provided in the extension sheet 10 for receiving the corners of rectangular, relatively stiff separate sheets provided with printing to define the spaces for filling out with planning information. In this case, the separate sheets may also be replaced. The embodiments shown in Fig. 8 and 9 have the added advantage of the same basic calendar design being suitable for use with various different groups having different separate planning sheets for insertion in the pockets 30 or slits 32. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the calendar device may be designed in many other different ways within the scope of the attached claims. For instance, the suspension means may be magnets so as to be able to suspend the backing panel on a vertical surface of a refrigerator.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A wall calendar device for planning and/or coordinating activities of a group of two or more persons, the calendar device comprising: substantially rectangular plate element having opposed first and second surfaces, opposed top and bottom edges and two opposed lateral edges, suspension means for suspending the device such that said top edge is located considerably, preferably substantially vertically, above said bottom edge, one or more, preferably twelve or more, substantially rectangular first plan- ning sheets having opposed front and back surfaces and being attached along one edge thereof to said plate element proximate said top edge thereof such that said back surface overlies said first surface, at least one second planning sheet having opposed primary and secondary surfaces and being attached to said plate element such that each second planning sheet may pivot approximately 180 degrees from a first position overlying one of said first and second surfaces and a second position wherein said primary surface is located in substantially the same plane as said first surface and substantially constitutes an extension thereof such that said front surface of one of said first planning sheets and said primary surface are visible simultaneously, said front surface being provided with identification means for identifying a certain calendar month and first definition means, preferably printing, for defining a plurality of first discrete spaces at least equal to the number of days in said calendar month and preferably equal to or larger than the number of persons in said group multiplied by said number of days, the surface of said first spaces being suitable for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like, and said primary surface being provided with second definition means for defining a plurality of second discrete spaces, the surface of said second spaces being suitable for being written upon by means of a pencil or the like. 2. A calendar device according to claim 1 , wherein said plurality of first discrete spaces constitutes an array of rows and columns, each row corresponding to a certain day of the month, and at least one column being allocated to each member of said group. 3. A calendar device according to claim 1 or 2, the device being for use for a group of persons constituted by a family comprising at least one parent and at least one child, wherein said plurality of first discrete spaces constitutes an array of rows and columns, each row corresponding to a certain day of the month, and at least one column being allocated to each member of said family, and - said plurality of second discrete spaces comprises a school subject schedule form for being filled out for at least one child in said family. 4. A calendar device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said second planning sheet is integral with said plate element and constitutes an extension of said plate element, a folding line for pivoting said extension relative to the rest of the plate element from said first position to said second position being constituted by part of or the entire length of said bottom edge or of one of said lateral edges. 5. A calendar device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first planning sheets are attached to said plate element along said top edge by a hinge means such as a spiral wire with the windings thereof alternately extending through said plate element and said first planning sheets. 6. A calendar device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said second definition means are constituted by printing applied directly to said primary surface. 7. A calendar device according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein said second definition means are constituted by a separate printed sheet attached to said primary surface. 8. A calendar device according to claim 7, wherein said separate printed sheet is attached to said primary surface by means of an adhesive. 9. A calendar device according to claim 7, wherein said separate printed sheet is attached to said primary surface by being inserted one or more slits in said second planning sheet. 10. A calendar device according to claim 7, wherein said separate printed sheet is at- tached to said primary surface by being inserted between said primary surface and a transparent film attached to said primary surface. 11. A calendar device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said suspension means comprise a wire loop attached to said plate element near or at said top edge. 12. A method of planning and/or coordinating activities of a group of two or more persons and comprising the following steps: providing a wall calendar device according to any of the preceding claims, filling out the relevant second discrete spaces with the relevant planning or scheduling information by means of writing with a pencil or the like, - suspending the calendar device in a location accessible by all persons in said group, and filling out the relevant first discrete spaces based partly on the information in said second discrete spaces and partly on other information becoming available subsequently. 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said group of persons is constituted by a family comprising at least one parent and at least one child.

Inventors: WOLFF FRANK GULDHAMMER, WOLFF KARINA, WOLFF, FRANK, GULDHAMMER, WOLFF, KARINA
Applicants: WOLFF FRANK GULDHAMMER, WOLFF KARINA, WOLFF, FRANK, GULDHAMMER, WOLFF, KARINA
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B42D5
IPC codes: B42D5