Abstract:
A paper sheet comprising a sheet having a first set of holes for receiving an external binder therethrough and a second set of holes for receiving an external binder therethrough. The second set of holes are laterally aligned with the first set of holes. The sheet further includes a set of perforations extending between the first and second set of holes such that a portion of the sheet containing the second set of holes may be manually separated from a portion of the sheet containing the first set of holes.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/124,943, filed Mar. 18, 1999, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0002]    The present invention is directed to a notebook, and more particularly, to a notebook having a plurality of removable paper sheets. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Notebooks are commonly used by students in educational settings such as schools and universities. The notebooks typically are made up of plurality paper sheets and include a binding that binds the sheets together. The notebook may include a set of holes through its thickness so that the notebook can be received in a conventional external binder, such as a three ring binder. The rings of the external binder are passed through the holes in the notebook to attach the notebook to the external binder. A line of perforations may be provided in each sheet in the notebook such that a portion of the paper can be neatly torn away from the notebook. The perforations are typically located between the binder-receiving holes and the edge of the paper. Thus, when such a notebook is retained in a three ring binder, in order to remove a sheet of paper the notebook must be removed from the external binder before the sheet can be torn along its perforations and removed. This requires additional time and effort to remove the sheet of paper, and increases the wear upon the binding mechanism in the external binder.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,676 to Showering discloses sheets of continuous stationary that can be divided into individual sheets. Each sheet  10  includes a set of longitudinally-extending holes located along the longitudinal edges  17 ,  19  of the sheet  10 . The holes adjacent the edges  17 ,  19  are feed holes that are shaped to interact with a feed wheel in printers, accounting machines, and the like for advancing the sheets  10 . Thus the feed holes are not located to receive a standard sized binder, and therefore the sheets  10  shown in the Showering reference cannot be mounted into a standard-sized binder. A second set of longitudinally-extending set of holes  27  are located adjacent a longitudinally-extending score line  16 . The second set of holes  27  are also not located to receive a standard sized binder, and therefore the torn sheets provided by the sheet  10  can not be received in a standard sized binder. Accordingly, there is a need for a notebook that can be received in an external binder, wherein the notebook that provides sheets of paper that can be removed from the folder without having to open the binding mechanism of the external binder. It is further preferred that the removed sheets be shaped to be received in a conventional external binder after the sheets have been removed from the notebook.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention is a notebook which can be received in an external binder, and which provides sheets that can be removed from the notebook without opening the binding mechanism of the external binder. The removed sheets can themselves be received in an external binder after they have been removed from the notebook.  
           [0006]    More particularly, the present invention is a notebook comprising a plurality of paper sheets. Each of the sheets includes a first set of holes for receiving an external binder therethrough, the first set of holes having a longitudinal spacing pattern. Each sheet also includes a second set of holes for receiving an external binder therethrough, the second set of holes having a longitudinal spacing pattern corresponding to the longitudinal spacing pattern of the first set of holes. Each sheet includes a set of perforations extending between the first and second set of holes such that a portion of the sheet containing the second set of holes may be manually separated from a portion of the sheet containing the first set of holes. The notebook also includes binding means for binding the plurality of sheets together.  
           [0007]    The present invention is also directed to a single paper sheet. In this embodiment, the invention is a paper sheet comprising a first set of holes for receiving an external binder tberethrough and a second set of holes for receiving an external binder therethrough. The second set of holes are laterally aligned with the first set of holes. The sheet further includes a set of perforations extending between the first and second set of holes such that a portion of the sheet containing the second set of holes may be manually separated from a portion of the sheet containing the first set of holes.  
           [0008]    Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a front view of the notebook of the present invention received in an external binder;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a front view of a sheet of paper of the notebook of FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a front view of the torn sheet of FIG. 2 received in the external binder of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a front view of an alternate embodiment of the notebook of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a front view of another alternate embodiment of the notebook of the present invention; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is an end view of the notebook of FIG. 5, with the cover folded around the body of the notebook. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]    As shown in FIG. 1, the notebook  10  of the present invention includes a cover  12  and a plurality of sheets  14 . As shown in FIG. 2, each sheet  14  includes a first  16  and a second  18  set of holes, as well as a set of binder holes  20 . Each set of holes  16 ,  18 ,  20  extends longitudinally along an inner edge  22  of the sheet  14 . The cover  12  similarly includes first set of holes  24  and a set of binder holes  26  that correspond to the first set of holes  16  and binder set of holes  20  in the paper sheets  14  (FIG. 2). The first sets of holes  16 ,  24  are shaped and located to mount the notebook  10  onto an external binder, such as a conventional, three ring binder  28  having a binding mechanism  30 . Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, each of the rings  32  of the three ring binder  28  are received through the first set of holes  24 ,  16 . With reference to FIG. 2, the second sets of holes  18  are also shaped and located to mount the sheet onto an external binder, such as the three ring binder  28 .  
         [0016]    The notebook  10  can be maintained in an external binder  28  by passing the rings  32  of the binding mechanism  30  through the first set of holes  16 ,  24 . A longitudinally extending set of perforations  29  is located between the first  16  and second  18  sets of holes on each sheet  14 . When mounted in an external binder  28 , the outer portions  34  of the sheets  14  can be removed by tearing the sheets  14  along the set of perforations  29  or other tearing guide. In this manner the binding mechanism  30  need not be opened to enable the torn sheet  34  to be removed from the notebook  10 . Once the outer portion  34  is separated from the inner portion  36  of the sheet  14 , the outer portion  34  (also termed the torn sheet  34 ) can be stored in the three ring binder  28  by passing the rings  32  of the external binder  28  through the second set of holes  18  as shown in FIG. 3. In this manner, after the torn sheet  34  is removed from the notebook  10 , it may be stored in the same three ring binder  28  that receives the notebook  10 , as well as a different notebook The first  16  and second  18  sets of holes in each sheet  14 , as well as the first set of holes  24  in the cover  12 , preferably each include three holes equally spaced apart about by about 4.25 inches, which is the standard three ring binder spacing. However, other arrangements and spacings of the first and second sets of holes may be utilized as may be desired to mount the notebook  10 , cover  12 , sheet  14  and/or torn sheets  34  to various types of binders and mounting mechanisms. Preferably, the first set of holes  16  is laterally aligned with the second set of holes  18 . Alternately, the second set of holes  18  has a longitudinal spacing pattern that corresponds to the longitudinal spacing pattern of the first set of holes  16 . In this manner, even if the second set of holes  18  do not laterally correspond to the first set of holes  16 , the torn sheet  34  can be received in the same external binder  28  in which the notebook  10  can be received. In yet another embodiment, the second set of holes  18  in the sheets  14  may be located adjacent the right hand edge of the paper sheet  14  of FIG. 2.  
         [0017]    As noted earlier, each sheet  14  may also include a binder set of holes  20  shaped and located to receive a notebook binder, such as a plastic spiral or coil binder  40  (FIG. 1) that are commonly used in the art. The spiral binder  40  is also passed through the binder holes  26  of the cover  12 . The cover  12  may also alternately includes a second set of holes (not shown in FIG. 1) that correspond to the second set of holes  18  in the sheets  14 . The cover  12  may also include a set of perforations  54  (see FIG. 4) such that a portion of the cover  12  can be removed.  
         [0018]    The cover  12  and each of the sheets  14  preferably includes a chamfered edge  44  adjacent the inner edge  22  of the cover  10  and sheets  14 . The chamfered edge  44  helps to avoid interference between the cover  12  and the binding mechanism  30  and the sheets  14  and the binding mechanism  30 . For example, the binding mechanism  30  may include a lever  45  for opening and closing the binding mechanism  30 , and the chamfered edge  44  reduces the interference between the sheets  14  and lever  45 . The torn sheets  34  may also include chamfered inner corners (not shown).  
         [0019]    As shown in FIG. 1, the outer surface of the cover  12  also preferably includes a pocket  46  that is formed by a piece of material mounted onto a corner of the cover  12 . The material forming the pocket  46  is preferably transparent to enable a label having written indicia thereon to be slid underneath the material to identify the notebook  10 . The external binder  28  shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 may have an extra width A as compared to conventional external binders. In this manner the external binder  28  may accommodate the notebook  10  of the present invention which may also have an extra width as compared to conventional notebooks.  
         [0020]    The spiral binder  40  of may be replaced with nearly any mechanism for binding the sheets of paper  14  together. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the sheets  14  may be bound by an adhesive  50  applied to the inner edge  22  of the sheets  14  and cover  12 . The adhesive  50  bonds the inner edges  22  of the sheets  14  and cover  12  together to form a relatively rigid spine. Of course, in this embodiment the binding sets of holes  20 ,  26  are not required in the sheets  14  or in the cover  12 . Alternately, any of a wide variety of binding means can be mounted on, or adjacent to, the inner edge of the sheets  22  to bind the sheets  14  together.  
         [0021]    In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the cover  12  of the notebook includes a second set of holes  52  that corresponds to the second set of holes  18  in the sheets  14 . Although the sheets  14  are not visible, the sheets  14  each include a first set of holes  16  that correspond to the first set of holes  24  of the cover  12  shown in FIG. 4, and a second set of holes  18  that correspond to the second set of holes  52  in the cover  12  shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the holes  16 ,  18  in each of the sheets  14 , as well as the holes  24 ,  52 , in the cover  12 , are generally oval-shaped. The first set of holes  16 ,  24  are a relatively wide oval shape so that the notebook can be received in binders having various sizes and widths of binding mechanisms. The second set of holes  18 ,  52  are a relatively narrow oval shape. The extra length provided by the oval holes, as compared to circular holes, make it easier for a user to fit the rings of a binder into the oval holes. The width of the ovals forming the second set of holes  18 ,  52  is preferably about the same as the thickness of the rings  32  of the binding mechanism such that the rings  32  are closely received in the torn sheet  34 .  
         [0022]    FIGS.  5 - 6  illustrates yet another alternate embodiment in which the notebook  62  is bound by a set of staples  74  that are passed through the cover  58  of the notebook and each of the sheets  14 . The staples  74  are then covered by an adhesive strip  64 . The cover  58  is made of cardboard, plastic, or another sufficiently pliable material and includes a set of longitudinally-extending fold lines  66 ,  68 ,  70 . The fold lines  66 ,  68 ,  70  enable the top cover  58  of the notebook  62  to be wrapped around the bottom cover  60  of the notebook, as shown in FIG. 6. The design of the top cover  58  thereby enables a user to fold the top cover  58  under the bottom of the notebook to keep the top cover  58  underneath the notebook  10  so that a user can write upon the top sheet  72  of the notebook  62 .  
         [0023]    Having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.