Patent Publication Number: US-2005119952-A1

Title: Expense receipt diary with adhesive strips

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/311,585 filed Aug. 10, 2001. 
    
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
      Not Applicable.  
     SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
      Not Applicable.  
     BACKGROUND—DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART  
      Employees of businesses routinely incur individual expenses, commonly referred to as “Travel and Entertainment” (T &amp; E) costs. These expenses usually relate to airfare, hotels, client lunches, seminars, transportation, and many others. Meticulous recording and tabulation of these expenses is required for monitoring the costs of doing business and for income tax purposes.  
      Typically, businesses monitor T &amp; E costs by requiring their employees to tally these expenses on a daily basis. The employee is usually required to gather all receipts and to report the expenses by category on a summary form. This summary form may be created manually but it is typically created using commercially available computer software such as a spreadsheet program. The receipts are then submitted to the accounting department along with the summary form. The summary form with all receipts attached is typically referred to as an “expense report.” If the employee used personal monies or personal credit to fund any purchases, the accounting department would review the expense report for accuracy and would reimburse the employee the dollar amount.  
      Receipts for purchases range in size from small ticket stubs to full size sheets of paper. As a result, businesses typically standardize the expense reporting process by requiring their employees to attach each receipt to a standard size sheet of paper by using glue or tape. In the case of small receipts, several may be attached to one sheet of paper. There are several reasons for this practice. First, if needed, it allows the employee or the accounting department to be able to easily make photocopies of the receipts without having to handle each receipt separately. Second, it reduces the chances of misplacing the receipts while the expense report navigates the expense reimbursement process. Third, this practice allows the accounting department to audit each receipt without the inconvenience of having to handle loose receipts of many different sizes and shapes. Finally, once the accounting department processes the expense report, the summary form and the accompanying receipts can be conveniently stored in standard size filers or binders.  
      Several business forms and diaries have been devised which provide a diary for recording expenses combined with a pocket for storing tickets and receipts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,068 of Arbach et al (1994) discloses an integrated expense summary form and receipt storage pocket. The complex form includes an area with a printed table for summarizing expense activities. The form can be folded into an envelope that can be used to store receipts. The envelope containing the receipts may then be submitted to the accounting department for processing.  
      Also, commercially available diaries for recording expenses are Dome® Publishing Co.&#39;s products titled Dome® Expense Account Diary and Dome® Auto Mileage Log And Expense Records. Both are wire bound notebooks containing sheets with printed tables which are designed for recording individual expense related activities. Both products also include an open pocket for storing tickets and receipts.  
      None of the available forms and diaries is equally convenient for all aspects of the expense record keeping process and subsequent expense reimbursement process. All forms and diaries heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:  
      The use of a pocket to store or retain receipts acts as a hindrance to the expense reimbursement process because it requires the accounting department to manually handle and sort individual receipts in order to verify that the employee has submitted all the required documentation with the expense summary. Manually handling each receipt increases the possibility that one may be damaged or misplaced.  
      The use of a pocket increases the possibility that receipts may be lost by the employee or by the accounting department if the pocket is not sealed correctly.  
      Submitting loose receipts to the accounting department impedes the photocopying process because each receipt must be handled individually.  
      Expense recording sheets, such as those included in the Dome® products, are not intended to be submitted to the accounting department as an expense report because they do not include a summary tabulation. Therefore, while these products can be used as expense diaries, they do not eliminate any of the steps required to create and submit a typical business expense report.  
      Diaries with only one pocket included, such as the Dome® products, are not intended to be submitted to the accounting department because were the pocket to be detached from the diary and submitted with an expense report the employee would no longer have a place to store the receipts recorded in the future.  
      Diaries, such as the Dome® products, are odd shaped and not designed for storage in standard size filers or binders.  
      The available forms and diaries do not easily complement the practice of attaching receipts to standard size sheets of paper.  
     OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
      Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are, for example: 
          to provide a more convenient and secure system for collecting individual tickets or receipts;     to provide an expense activity diary where expenses can be categorized for each individual receipt;     to provide an expense activity diary which complements the practice of attaching receipts to standard size sheets of paper;     to provide a system for collecting, categorizing, and attaching expense receipts to standard size sheets of paper, which does not require an additional process or product;     to provide a system which facilitates expense report processing by eliminating wasted effort such as manual handling of individual receipts by the accounting department;     to provide a more convenient means for photocopying small and odd shaped receipts;     to provide a means of collecting receipts which can be conveniently stored in standard size filers or binders; and     to provide an expense activity diary which is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture.        

     SUMMARY  
      A diary or notebook comprising a front cover, a back cover, and a plurality of interior pages bound at one edge, with a plurality of adhesive strips covered by release liners disposed on one surface, and a form for recording business information printed on the reverse side of said surface. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS  
     Drawing Figures  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a typical embodiment of the present invention opened to expose two interior pages.  
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the diary in  FIG. 1  open to expose two interior pages. 
    
    
     Reference Numerals in Drawings  
     
         
           10 : notebook-type expense receipt diary  
           12 : front cover  
           14 : back cover  
           16 : interior pages  
           18 : binding  
           20 : data recording area  
           22 : back of each interior page  
           24 : mounting area  
           26   a : perforated edge as seen from the data recording area side of each page  
           26   b : perforated edge as seen from mounting area side of each page  
           28 : adhesive strip  
           30 : release liner  
           32 : underlying adhesive  
           34   a : receipt to be attached  
           34   b : attached receipt  
       
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     Description—FIGS.  1  and  2 —Preferred Embodiment  
      Though  FIGS. 1 and 2  show specific formats, the present invention is not limited to the formats illustrated here.  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are illustrations of an expense receipt diary of a notebook-type  10  open to reveal two interior pages. The expense diary  10  consists of a front cover  12  and a back cover  14  of any material, secured together by binding  18  that allows the covers and the interior pages  16  to be freely turned.  
      Each interior page  16  is made of a single sheet of paper. The front of each interior page  16  consists of a mounting area  24  that contains a plurality of adhesive strips  28 . Each adhesive strip  28  is comprised of a release liner  30  and an underlying adhesive  32 . The mounting area  24  holds the receipts  34   b  that are attached to the underlying adhesives  32 .  
      The data recording area  20  is located on the reverse side of the mounting area  24 , which is the back of each interior page  22 . The data recording area  20  is a printed surface where the employee can record details pertaining to the receipts attached to the mounting area  34   b  of the same sheet. In the example illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the recording area  20  of one sheet is shown imprinted with fields that may be used to record the receipt amounts, checkboxes for categorizing the receipts by various expense types, and other fields for recording additional information. Also shown is the mounting area  24  of the adjacent interior page  16 . The mounting area  24  contains eight adhesive strips  28  which may be exposed to attach receipts  34   a . However, the mounting area  24  of each interior page  16  may contain more or less adhesive strips  28 .  
      Once the mounting area  24  of an interior page  16  is covered with attached receipts  34   b , said page and the corresponding page with recorded data  20  may be separated from the diary by tearing the page along the perforation  26   a ,  26   b . The perforation  26   a ,  26   b  is on the side of each sheet closest to the binding  18 .  
     Operation—FIGS.  1  and  2   
      The functions of the components of the invention are: 
          the interior pages  16  provide a surface upon which the adhesive strips  28  can be applied on the mounting surface side  24  and the data recording area  20  can be imprinted on the reverse side  22 ;     the binding  18  allows the front cover  12 , back cover  14 , and the interior pages  16  to be turn freely;     the mounting area  24  provides a surface upon which the adhesive strips  28  may be applied and the receipts may be attached  34   b;       the release liner  30 , a material specially treated so as to be easily removed from the underlying adhesive  32 , covers the underlying adhesive  32 . The release liner  30  prevents adjacent interior pages  16  from becoming attached to the underlying adhesives  32  when the expense diary  10  is closed;     the underlying adhesive  32  simultaneously adheres to both the mounting surface  24  and the receipt to be attached  34   a;       the recording area  20  provides a place for the user to record information pertaining to the receipts attached  34   b  to the mounting area  24  on the reverse side of the page; and     the perforated edge  26   a ,  26   b  allows the user to easily and conveniently separate each page  16  from the expense diary  10 .        

      The manner of using the expense receipt diary is simple and straightforward, comprising: 
          selecting the receipts  34   a  to be attached to the diary; selecting the interior page  16  to be used for attaching the receipts  34   a;       removing as many release liners  30  as is necessary to securely attach the receipts  34   a  to the page. The release liners  30  are removed by prying up the edge of the liner  30  with a fingernail or other device and pulling the liner  30  away from the surface of the underlying adhesive  32 . This action will expose the underlying adhesive  32 . The release liners  30  may then be discarded;     pressing the receipts  34   a  onto the exposed adhesives;     continuing to add receipts to the page until there is no additional space on the mounting surface  24  for attaching more receipts  34   a , or until all the underlying adhesives  32  have been covered by attached receipts  34   b , or until all available expense receipts have been attached;     if necessary, recording information pertaining to the attached receipts  34   b  on the data recording area  20  printed on the reverse side of the same page. The information may include but is not limited to, the amount of the receipt, the type of expense, the city in which the expense was incurred, the type of currency or credit used to pay for the expense, and any other relevant information; and     if necessary for expense reporting purposes, separating the pages with the attached receipts  34   b  from the expense diary  10  by tearing along the perforated edge  26   a ,  26   b . Submit the detached pages with the expense summary to the accounting department or the department that processes expense reports.        

     Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope  
      Accordingly, the reader will see that the expense receipt diary can be used to conveniently and securely collect individual tickets or receipts, to categorize and keep information pertaining to said receipts, and to easily detach the pages from the expense diary in order to submit said receipts to the appropriate department for processing of an expense report. In addition, because the receipts are attached to a standard size page, the department processing the expense report will not need to handle each receipt individually, which allows the processor of the expense report to be able to photocopy several receipts at once and to be able to store said receipts in standard size filers or binders. Furthermore, the expense receipt diary has additional advantages in that, for example: 
          (a) it provides an expense activity diary which complements the practice of attaching receipts to standard size sheets of paper in order to submit these receipts, along with an expense summary, to the accounting department for processing;     (b) it does not require the use of a secondary process or product, in addition to the product of my invention, for collecting, categorizing, and submitting receipts;     (c) it permits production of the diary in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes;     (d) it is lightweight and convenient to carry; and     (e) it is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture.        

      While my above description contains specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible. For example, the covers may be any material such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, etc.; the expense diary may have other shapes, such as circular, oval, trapezoidal, triangular, etc.; the binding may be binding with metal rings, spiral rings, plastic rings, staples, nuts and screws, adhesive material, book binding, or no binding at all; the interior pages may be any weight of paper or card stock; the release liner may be any material and any shape; the adhesive may be made of other materials such as glue, double-sided tape, etc. Also, for decorative, aesthetic, or marketing appeal, the covers or the interior pages of the expense receipt diary may be printed or embossed with an ornamental design, name, logo or other type of mark.  
      Thus the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment(s) illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.