Patent Publication Number: US-7717469-B2

Title: Embossed paper

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/360,084, filed on Feb. 7, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,135, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     The present invention is directed to writing paper, and more particularly, to writing paper including at least one embossed line located thereon. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Writing paper is often used by school children and others to develop and refine their writing skills. The writing paper may include a plurality of lines located thereon to provide guides to the user. Furthermore, some writing paper may include embossed lines for guides to the user. However, such embossed writing paper may not include any written lines or other indicia located thereon to provide a visual guide or feedback to the user. Accordingly, there is a need for improved, embossed writing paper. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, the present invention is embossed paper including at least one embossed line and at least one printed line located at least partially thereon. In particular, in one embodiment the invention is a sheet of embossed paper including a sheet-like body portion, at least one embossed or depressed line located on the body portion, and at least one printed line located on and extending at least partially along the embossed or depressed line. In another embodiment, the invention is a notebook including a plurality of sheets of paper, each sheet including a sheet-like body portion, at least one embossed or depressed line located on the body portion, and at least one printed line located on and extending at least partially along the embossed or depressed line. The notebook may include binding means binding the plurality of sheets together. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of one embodiment of the paper of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side cross section take along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a detail view of area  3 - 3  of the sheet of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a notebook of papers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the sheet  10  of the present invention may include a sheet-like body portion  12  having an outer perimeter. The body portion  12  can be made from nearly any material which can be written upon, including but not limited to, plastics or fiber-based paper made from a cellulose-based or cellular based fiber pulp, synthetic materials, or a blend of pulp and synthetic materials. The sheet  10  may include a plurality of generally straight, parallel guidelines  14  extending the entire distance from one edge  15  of the sheet  10  to an opposite edge  17 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each guideline  14  may include a preformed straight embossed line  16  and a pre-printed straight line  18  located on the embossed line  16 . In other words, each guideline  14  may be formed by an embossed line  16 , with a printed line  18  located on top of the embossed line  16 . Each guideline  14  may extend the entire distance from one edge  15  of the sheet  10  to the opposite edge  17 , or may extend the majority of a dimension (width or length) of the sheet  10 , for example, at least about 50% of the length or width of the sheet  10 , or at least about 90% of the length or width of the sheet  10 . The embossed lines  16  may be created by a wide variety of methods utilizing nearly any embossing technique as are well known in the art, such as by passing the sheet under an embossing roll or wheel, or between the nip of a pair of embossing rolls, etc. 
     The guidelines  14  may be spaced apart a sufficient distance to define a writing area  22  therebetween. For example, adjacent ones of the guidelines  14  may be spaced apart by a distance of between about ¼″ and about 2″ to define a writing area  22  therebetween. The sheet  10  may include a plurality of intermediate lines  20 , with each intermediate line  20  being located between an adjacent pair of guidelines  14  and in one of the writing areas  22 . In the illustrated embodiment, each of the intermediate lines  20  is a printed dotted line located on a generally flat portion of the body portion  12  (that is, not on an embossed portion of the sheet  10 ). 
     Each embossed line  16  may include a bead that is raised relative to the front side  24  of the body portion  12  and depressed relative to the rear side  26  of the body portion. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the sheet  10  may include a printed line  18  located on the front side  24  of the sheet  10  and on each embossed line  16  (each printed line  18  being schematically illustrated in  FIG. 3  by a dark rectangle). 
     Each embossed line  16  may also include a printed line  30  located on the rear side  26  and extending generally parallel thereto. Relative to the rear side  26  of the paper  10 , each embossed line  16  may appear as a “debossed” line or a “line of depression.” Thus, in this case each guideline  14  may include a debossed line with a printed line  30  located thereon. The rear side  26  of the sheet  10  may also include the intermediate guidelines  20  printed thereon. Accordingly, a top view of the rear side  26  of the sheet  10  may appear identical to the top view of the front side  24  of the sheet  10  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Each of the guidelines  14  may provide both a tactile and visual guide to the user, for example, when the user writes in the writing area  22 . In particular, if the user&#39;s writing instrument engages or passes over a guideline  14 , the resultant bump or area of depression can provide tactile feedback to the user. Furthermore, because each guideline  14  includes a printed line  18 ,  30 , the user can also visually note when the writing or writing instrument has extended beyond the bounds of the writing area  22 . Thus, the combination of the printed line  18 ,  30  and embossed or debossed line  16  of each guideline  14  can provide enhanced feedback so that a user can learn to stay in the writing area  22  to improve his or her writing skills. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a plurality of sheets  10  may be bound together by a binding mechanism  34  to form a notebook  32  having a front cover  36  and a rear cover  38 . The front  36  and rear  38  covers may be made from a relatively stiff material, such as cardboard or plastics, to protect the sheets  10  and provide stiffness and structure to the notebook  32 . In the illustrated embodiment the binding mechanism  34  is an adhesive binder, but the binding mechanism  34  can take any of a variety of forms including but not limited to clips, clasps, binder rings, spiral binder, staples, shrink-wrap or other packaging, etc. 
     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.