Patent Publication Number: US-2007120359-A1

Title: Reminder system

Description:
This application claims priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/741,033, filed Nov. 30, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
      The present invention is directed to a reminder system, and more particularly, to a reminder system in the form of a bound component for dispensing wrist reminders.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Notebooks, binders and the like are widely used by students, professionals and other users in lectures, classrooms, business meetings, etc. During the use of such materials, it is often desired to make a written notation or reminder. For example, with existing components a user may write a reminder in the margin of a notebook, on a loose piece of paper, etc. However, such written reminders can be easily overlooked, misplaced or lost. Users may also desire to make written reminders in a variety of other settings. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved device and method for making written reminders.  
     SUMMARY  
      The present invention is an improved device and method for making written reminders. In one embodiment the invention is a bound component including a plurality of pages and at least one reminder strip coupled to the plurality of pages. The reminder strip is separable from the bound component, and once the strip is separated from the bound component the strip is wrappable around the wrist of a user. The bound component further includes a plurality of stickers coupled to the plurality of pages such that each sticker is separable for the plurality of pages and adhereable to the wrapped reminder strip to secure the reminder strip in the wrapped configuration.  
      In another embodiment the invention is a bound component including a plurality of pages and at least one reminder strip coupled to the plurality of pages. The reminder strip is separable from the bound component, and once the strip is separated from the bound component the strip is wrappable around the wrist of a user. The bound component further includes a cover coupled to the plurality of pages and having at least one pocket located thereon. The pocket is configured to receive a separated reminder strip therein such that at least part of the separated reminder strip is visible through the pocket. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the reminder system of the present invention, shown in its closed position;  
       FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the reminder system of  FIG. 1 , shown in its open position and a reminder being written upon and separated;  
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of reminder system of  FIG. 2 ; with the reverse side of the reminder of  FIG. 2  being written upon;  
       FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of the reminder system of  FIG. 3 , with reminders inserted into the front cover;  
       FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the reminder system of  FIG. 4 , with the front cover in its closed position;  
       FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the reminder system of  FIG. 1 , with a sticker sheet bound thereto;  
       FIG. 7  is an underside front perspective view of a wrist reminder being wrapper around the wrist of a user;  
       FIG. 8  is a front perspective view of the wrist reminder of  FIG. 7 ;  
       FIG. 9  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the reminder system of the present invention;  
       FIG. 10  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the reminder system of the present invention, shown in its closed position; and  
       FIG. 11  is a front perspective view of the reminder system of  FIG. 10 , shown in its open position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      As best shown in  FIG. 1 , in one embodiment the wrist reminder system  10  of the present invention may take the form of a bound component  12  such as a planner, notebook, journal, diary, notepad or the like with a plurality of bound pages, papers or sheets  14 . In the illustrated embodiment, the bound component  12  takes the form of a planner, in which case each of the sheets  14  includes date indicia  16  printed thereon with various spaces for the user to write planning text or notes (see  FIGS. 2-4 ). However, the sheets  14  may have various other indicia, or may have no indicia, printed thereon. Each of the sheets  14  may be made of standard pulp-based or cellulose-based paper or generally water absorbent paper such that the sheet can written upon by a wide variety of media, including ink, pencil, marker and the like.  
      The bound component  12  may include a front cover  18  and a rear cover  20  bound to the sheets  14  by a binding mechanism  22 . Each of the front  18  and/or rear covers  20  may have a greater thickness and/or stiffness than the sheets  14 , and may have about the same size and shape as the sheets  14  to provide protection to the sheets  14 . In the illustrated embodiment, the binding mechanism  22  is a twin-wire coil binding mechanism, although the binding mechanism  22  can take a variety of other forms, including but not limited to a spiral wire, adhesive bindings, book-style bindings, clips, prongs, clasps and the like.  
      In one embodiment each sheet  14  includes a reminder strip  24  located thereon or formed therein. Each reminder strip  24  may be formed at the upper portion of the associated sheet  14 , and may be defined by a pair of generally perpendicular tear guidelines  26 ,  28 . The tear guidelines  26 ,  28  can take the form of perforation lines, score lines, score-slit lines, areas of weakness, crease lines, combinations of these features, and the like. In any case the tear guidelines  26 ,  28  provide a line along which the sheet  14  is predisposed to tear. The tear guidelines  26 ,  28  and outer edges of the sheet  14  define a closed shape, such as a rectangle, which defines the reminder strip  24 .  
      Each longitudinal tear guideline  26  extends parallel to, but spaced apart from, an upper edge  30  of the associated sheet  14 , and intersects an outer free edge  32  of the sheet  14  that is opposite an inner, bound edge  34  thereof. Each lateral tear guideline  28  extends generally parallel to the inner edge  34  of the associated sheet  14 . Each lateral tear guideline  28  is generally perpendicular to, and intersects, the upper edge  30  of the associated sheet  14  and the longitudinal tear guideline  26 . The inner tear guideline  28  is located adjacent to, and extends parallel to, the binding mechanism  22  and allows the reminder strip  24  to be removed without having to remove the reminder strip  24  from the binding mechanism  22 .  
      Each reminder strip  24  provides an area upon which text, reminders or indicia can be written. The reminder strip  24  can then be torn along the tear guidelines  26 ,  28  to separate the reminder strip  24  from the associated sheet  14 . For example,  FIG. 2  illustrates a reminder strip  24 ′ with the text “Chapter 2.4” being written on a front side  24   a  thereof. Alternately, text, reminder or indicia can be written on the reminder strip  24  after the strip  24  is separated. In addition, if desired indicia can be written on only one side, or both sides, of the strip  24 .  FIG. 3  illustrates the strip  24 ′ with the text “Math Homework” written on a rear side  24   b  thereof.  
      In the illustrated embodiment, each reminder strip  24  is shown as being located along the top edge of the associated sheet  14 . However, the reminder strips  24  can be located at various locations on the associated sheet  14 , including along the bottom  36  of the sheet  14 , the outer free edge  32  of the sheet  14 , although each reminder strip  24  can be entirely internal to a sheet  14  if desired. In addition, each sheet  14  may include more than one reminder strip  24 , and some sheets  14  may not include any reminder strips  24  formed therein.  
      In an alternate embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 9  each reminder strip  24  may be “pre-formed” and may not need to be torn along any tear guidelines  26 ,  28 . In this case each reminder strip  24  may be directly bound to the binding mechanism  22  along part of the length of the binding mechanism  22 , and each sheet  14  is directly bound to another adjacent portion of the binding mechanism  22 . In this case the reminder strips  24  and sheets  14  are independently pivotable about the binding mechanism  22 . Each reminder strip  24  can be separated from the binding mechanism  22  by manually pulling the strip  24  away from the binding mechanism  22 .  
      As best shown in  FIG. 4 , the front cover  18  may include a plurality of pockets or slots  40  formed therein or thereon, where each pocket  40  is configured to closely receive one of the reminder strips  24  therein. The front cover  18  may include a main panel  42  that is made of a generally translucent or transparent material. The main panel  42  may have a plurality of retaining panels  44  coupled thereto by any of a variety of methods, such as adhesives, welding, heat sealing or seaming, or the like. Each retaining panel  44  defines a pocket  40  between the retaining panel  44  and the main panel  42 . If desired, each retaining panel  44  may also be made of a generally translucent or transparent material.  
      Each retaining panel  44  may be coupled to the main panel  42  along two edges; in the illustrated embodiment the bottom  46  and outer side  48  edges are directly coupled to the main panel  42  and the top  50  and inner side  52  edges are not directly coupled to the main panel  42  to provide access to the pocket  40 . However, if desired each retaining panel  44  may be coupled to the main panel  42  along three edges thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the front cover  18  includes six pockets  40  such that six reminder strips  24  can be received in the front cover  18 , although the number and placement of pockets  40  can be varied as desired.  
      As best shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , each pocket  40  can receive a reminder strip  24  therein. Portions of each retaining panel  44  can be pulled away from the main panel  42  along edges  50 ,  52  (see  FIG. 4 ) to allow a reminder strip  24  to be inserted in the associated pocket  40 . Each reminder strip  24  may have a length and width that is at least about 90% of the length and width of each pocket  40 , and/or no more than 110% of the length and width of each pocket  40 , such that the pocket  40  closely receives the reminder strip  24  therein. Each reminder strip  24  can also be larger than the associated pocket  40  and protrude slightly beyond the associated pocket  40 .  
      As can be seen in  FIG. 5 , when the main panel  42  is made of generally transparent or translucent material, any text, reminders or indicia written on one side of the reminder strip  24  are visible through the main panel  42  and cover  18 . As can be seen in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , when the retaining panels  44  are made of generally transparent or translucent material, any text, reminders or indicia written on the other side of the reminder strip  24  are visible through the retaining panels  44  when the bound component  10  is opened. For example, in  FIG. 4  the front face  24   a  of strip  24 ′ is visible, and in  FIG. 5  the rear face  24   b  is visible.  
      In this configuration more urgent reminders or public indicia can be written on the side of the reminder strips  24  visible through the main panel  42 , and less urgent reminders or more private matters can be written on the side of the reminder strips  24  visible through the retaining panels  44 . Alternately, if desired, the retaining panels  44  and/or the main panel  42  may be made of generally opaque material to limit the ability to see certain or both sides of the reminder strips  24  positioned in the pockets  40 . Thus, each pocket  40  is defined by a pair of opposed panels  42 ,  44  and at least one of the panels  42 ,  44  may be generally translucent to allow at least part of the reminder strip  24  to be visible through the pocket  40 .  
      The pockets  40  may be able to be accessed from either the outer side or the inner side of the front cover  18 . For example, in the illustrated embodiment the retaining panels  44  are located on an inner surface of the main panel  42  such that the retaining panels  44  are positioned between the main panel  42  and the pages  14  when the bound component  10  is closed. However, if desired this configuration may be reversed such that the retaining panels  44  are coupled to an outer surface of the main panel  42 . In this case the main panel  42  is positioned between the retaining panels  44  and the pages  14  when the bound component  10  is closed.  
      The bound component  10  allows a user to write reminder indicia on the reminder strips  24  as desired, or as other entries are being written in the sheets  14 . The reminder strips  24  can then be removed from the associated sheets  14  or from binding mechanism  22  and inserted into the pockets  40  of the front cover  18  for display until the reminder is no longer needed.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , rather than sliding the reminder strip  24  into a pocket  40  on the front cover  18 , the reminder strip  24  may be mounted to the wrist or other part of a user. In particular, the reminder strip  24  can be placed on or adjacent to the wrist of the user and wrapped around the wrist to form a generally closed loop. The strip  24  may be wrapped around the wrist of a user such that the written indicia faces outwardly so that the indicia is always visible. Alternately, the strip  24  may be wrapped such that the indicia faces inwardly to protect the written indicia. Further alternately, indicia may be written on both sides of the strip  24 . In this configuration more urgent reminders or public indicia can be written on the outer, more visible side of the reminder strips  24 , and less urgent reminders or more private matters can be written on the inner, less visible side of the reminder strips  24 .  
      The bound component  12  may include a plurality of stickers or sticker sheets  56  bound thereto, one of which is shown in  FIG. 6 . Each sticker sheet  56  provides a plurality of relatively small stickers  58  (oval stickers in the illustrated embodiment). Each sticker sheet  56  may have about the same size and shape as the sheets  14 . A removed sticker  58 ′ can then be adhered to the reminder strip  24 ′ (such as the overlapping end portions of the reminder strip  24 ′) to secure the strip  24 ′ to the wrist of the wearer (see  FIG. 7 ). The adhesive of the stickers  58  may be a pressure sensitive adhesive, and may be relatively weak (i.e., weaker than the material of the reminder strip  24 ) which allows the sticker  58  to be separated from the reminder strip  24  without tearing. This allows the reminder strips  24  to be re-used or inserted into the pockets  40  of the front cover  18 . Alternately, the stickers  58  may have a relatively strong adhesive (i.e., stronger than the material of the reminder strip  24 ) such that the reminder strip  24  can be removed only by tearing the material of the strip  24  or the sticker  58 .  
      Each reminder strip  24  may have sufficient length to be formed into a loop around the wrist of the user. The length of the strips  24  may vary depending upon the age and size of the intended user, but may have a length of at least about 6 inches, or at least about 8 inches. Each strip  24  may have a width of between about ½ inch and about 1½ inches, and more particularly about one inch. Each strip  24  should have a width that is sufficient to provide sufficient strength to the strip  24  and to provide sufficient surface area for writing thereon. Each strip  24  may have a thickness of between about 0.003 inches and about 0.0175 inches such that the strips  24  are sufficiently flexible to be manually wrapped around a user&#39;s wrist. Each strip  24  may have pre-printed indicia thereon, such as colored areas, text, ruled lines, etc. to guide a user in his or her writing on the strip  24 , although the pre-printed indicia is not required.  
      In this manner, once the bracelet or loop is formed on the wrist of the user, the strip  24  and written indicia are carried with the user until the user removes the strip/bracelet. This method of producing reminders can replace writing on the user&#39;s hand or wrist with ink or the like which is a technique practiced by many students. The use of the strips of the present invention provides a much easier and more convenient method of creating reminders. In addition, the strips can be easily disposed of as compared to significant scrubbing often required to remove writing from a user&#39;s hand or wrist.  
      In another embodiment, each strip  24  may have an adhesive located thereon. The adhesive can be moisture-activated, or can be a pressure sensitive adhesive covered by a release liner. The adhesive can be located on either side of the strip  24 . This allows each strip to be formed into a loop without the need for stickers or the like.  
      As best shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , which illustrates a slightly differently-sized embodiment of the invention, a plurality of inserts  54  may be provided, and packaged and sold with the bound component  10 . Each insert  54  may be shaped and sized to be closely received in one of the pockets  40 . More particularly, each insert  54  may have a length and width that is at least about 90% of the length and width of each pocket  40 , and/or no more than about 110% of the length and width of the pocket  40 . In the illustrated embodiment, each insert  54  is slightly larger than the pockets  40  and protrudes outwardly beyond the pockets  40 .  FIG. 10  illustrates an insert  54  received in each pocket  40 , and  FIG. 11  illustrates a bottom insert  54  removed and a top insert  54  exploded away. The strip  24  in  FIG. 11 . may be sized to be closely received in the pockets  40 , as described above; accordingly in one embodiment the inserts  54  and strips  24  may each have roughly the same size.  
      Each insert  54  may have various indicia, such as text, designs, drawings, photographs, patterns, logos, phrases and the like pre-printed thereon. Such indicia may be printed on both sides thereof, or on only a single side thereof. In this manner a user can arrange the inserts  54  in various manners and arrangement in the pockets  40  to customize the cover/appearance of the bound component  12 . The pockets  40 /inserts  54  may cover the majority of the surface area of the front cover  18 , or at least about 90% of the surface area of the front cover  18 , so that the inserts  54  provide a decorative outer cover  18 . The user can change the arrangement and display of the inserts  54  to change the display of bound components  10  as the user&#39;s mood changes over the day, or from day-to-day, and can be used to convey messages to friends or the like. Various combinations of inserts  54  and/or reminder strips  24  can be inserted into the pockets  44  as desired.  
      In addition, as shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , each retaining panel  44  may include a semi-circular notch  60  formed in the upper edge  50  thereof to allow ease of access thereto. A corresponding semi-circular retaining tab  62  may be positioned opposite the associated notch  60  and be coupled to the main panel  42  to retain each insert  54  therebelow and in the associated pocket  40 .  
      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.