Patent Abstract:
A highlighter strip including adhesive to form a removable bond with a substrate, constructed from a translucent and colored material. The highlighter strip can be affixed over writing or other markings, which highlights the indicia that remains legible. One or both ends of the strip can omit the adhesive, thereby providing a grabbing portion to facilitate removal from an initial position and optionally subsequent positions. The strip can be included in a set of strips affixed to each other and optionally affixed to another base; such as a notebook, binder, or other entity where one would expect writing, text, or other indicia requiring highlighting.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/563,352 filed Nov. 23, 2011. The entire disclosure of the above-referenced application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present subject matter relates generally to a movable highlight strip that can be used, for example, with a notebook. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Known office supplies include a number of marking, flagging, and/or highlighting products. For example, tabbed partitions (e.g., dividers inserted between sets of pages with tabs protruding from the pages), such as those described in U.S. patent application No. 2003/0178837 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,614,838 and 4,970,984, provide a way for users to mark certain pages or sections for ease of reference. Flags with an even greater customizable placement, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,637,149, 4,898,115, and 5,283,091, provide a way for users to mark specific locations, lines, and/or words. The &#39;091 patent describes the well known “sign here” flag, with a temporary adhesive for temporary use and subsequent removal. 
     Known office supplies also include translucent colored ink marking pens or “highlighters,” which can mark existing indicia and the surrounding area with a colored coating, leaving the indicia legible and emphasized. Highlighters are very common office tools, but suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as seepage to the other side of a page and/or onto the next page. Highlighter pens are also permanent, which can be a desired attribute in some contexts, but is often another drawback. U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,777 discloses transparent colored sheets that can be affixed to cover subject matter desired to be marked or highlighted and extend to the margin of the page to be visible when the book is closed. The strips in this patent are provided individually, each on a release backing of a larger size. 
     It is desirable to provide an improved highlighter arrangement. 
     SUMMARY 
     A movable highlighting system that can include a base portion having a first surface that includes: a principal area of at least 80% of the base portion; and a marginal area. The system can include a binding or fastening member configured for holding a stack of paper on the principal area, and a supply of stickers in the marginal area. The stickers can include an adhesive configured to adhere to the paper in the stack. The stickers can include a plurality of highlighter strips that have a uniform translucent color configured for legibly highlighting indicia on the paper when adhered thereover. The adhesive can be disposed on a center portion of each strip, with one or both longitudinal ends of the strip being free of adhesive for permitting the end to be lifted from an adjacent sticker in the supply to which it is adhered. 
     The adhesive stickers can be stacked and releasably adhered to each other in the marginal area, which can be located on a side opposite the binding member. The base portion can be made from a cardboard sheet affixed to the stack by the binding portion that includes a binding on an upper edge. The paper can include marking areas, and can be ruled (e.g., with guidelines) of any number of standard or non-standard spacings. Each highlighter strip can be the same or proportional size of the rule spacing. 
     The base can include an attached flap, which can act as a bookmark or divider, and can include a plurality of the highlighter strips attached. The strips can also be configured in a roll, e.g., a dispensing roll, configured to dispense strips one at a time. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord with the present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations, In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a view of a notepad with included highlighter strips, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a single highlighter strip; 
         FIG. 3  is another notepad with pages flipped and strips affixed; 
         FIG. 4  is another notepad with a flap affixed to it, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is another view of  FIG. 4 , with the flap in an opened position; 
         FIG. 6  is another view of  FIGS. 4 and 5 , with the flap positioned as a page divider; 
         FIG. 7  is a stack of highlighter strips, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a roll of highlighter strips, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  is a ring-binder with included highlighter strips, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a single highlighter strip, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Exemplary embodiment can include various devices designed for receiving writing, such as a notepad, journal, or three-ring binder, etc. Referring to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary embodiment is illustrated as a notepad  100 , including a base portion  110 , such as the cardboard backing of the notepad  100 . Base portion  110  can include a principle area  112 , and a marginal area  114 . These may be uniform portions of base portion  110 , or may be divided, e.g., by different material, appearance, texture, etc. Marginal area  114  is preferably smaller and longitudinally shorter than principle area  112 , and more preferably marginal area  114  will have up to about 20% of the area of base portion  110  and/or have a length  115  of up to about 20% of the length  117  of the base portion  110 , and in other embodiments below about 10%, 5%, or 3%. Preferably, the marginal area  114  will have at least about 3% of the area of base portion  110  and/or have a length  115  of at least about 3% of the length  117  of the base portion  110 . Marginal area  114  can be in any location, preferably on an edge, more preferably on an edge without binding (e.g.,  118 ), and more preferably on an edge opposite a binding. 
     The exemplary notepad  100  of the exemplary embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , can include a binding member, such as exemplary binding  118 . This binding member  118  can be configured to hold a stack of paper  120  on the principle area  112 , and typically is provided as a notepad binding arrangement, which can include glue, staples, thread, clamps, etc., or any. combination of suitable binding arrangements. The binding  118  preferably has an end cover layer  121  that is wrapped around the top and longitudinal edge of the stack  120  and bottom of the base portion  110  to cover the longitudinal end portion of the notepad  100  and the staples  123  or other binding components. In this way, base portion  110  can include a common dimension (e.g., width) as paper  120 , while having a larger dimension (e.g., length) exposing marginal area  114 . The exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , e.g., as a notepad, can include sheets of paper  120  permanently bound by staples  123 . Paper  120  can be permanently fixed to backing  110 , or can include a perforation line  122 , which can allow pages to be removed from the fixed binding  118 . Whether fully attached or attached via a weakened perforation line  122 , pages can be flipped over the binding to access subsequent pages without removing previous pages (e.g., as shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
     The exemplary embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , can include a supply of stickers  125 , 137  in the marginal area  114 . These stickers  125  can include an adhesive configured to form a releasable or permanent bond with paper in the stack  120 . The stickers  125  can be in any number of shapes, including the illustrated strip shape, and may be referred to in this and other exemplary embodiments as stickers or strips  125 . The adhesive can be included as a layer over part or all of each sticker  125 .  FIG. 2  illustrates stickers  125  with an adhesive  129  provided on the underside of each sticker in a middle area  128  thereof, e.g., spanning between two end areas  126 , which are free of adhesive, for example to facilitate grabbing and removing of a sticker from either lateral side thereof. Any of the exemplary strips can include adhesive in any area, unless otherwise specified for those specific embodiments. For example,  FIG. 2  illustrates an adhesive over a central portion  128 , which generally covers a centered portion of some fractional length, but could easily be included off-center (e.g., over portion  128  and the right end  126 , but not the left end  126 , etc. and vice versa), be included in non-continuous patches/sections, in patterns, or other partially covered arrangements. The adhesive region of sticker  125  can include any minimum area of adhesion, such as 1% of the overall area, but preferably can include over 50% of the area. The one or more adhesive free ends  126  can together or individually include any proportion of the total area (e.g., 1%), but preferably include about 10 to 20 percent each, or about 15% each. Thus, the adhesive to adhesive-free ratio can be any relative ratio, including about 9:1, 8:1, 7:1, 6:1, half-and-half or any ratio there between. These ratios can refer to the area of a single side, and the other side of strip  125  can preferably be free of adhesive on all or most of the surface, preferably all of the upper surface is free of adhesive. 
     In  FIG. 1 , the lateral edges of the adhesive in middle area  128  is shown with hidden lines. The stickers  125  in the supply shown are releasably adhered to each other, to remain in a stack, and the bottom sticker  125  is adhered, preferably releasably to the base portion  110 . The base portion  110  can be provided with a release layer. The release layer can include wax, plastic, or any other material cooperatively selected to form a releasable bond with adhesive layer  129 . A release layer can be affixed to a substrate, sprayed onto the substrate, or be integrally formed from the material of the substrate. 
       FIG. 1  also illustrates strips  125  as including attached flags  137 . Each flag  137  can be translucent like strip  125 , discussed below, or opaque. Whether translucent or opaque, the flag  137  can be the same or different color as strip  125 . Flag  137  can be detachable or permanently connected. Further, flag  137  can include an adhesive like central portion  128 , or be free of adhesive like end portion  126 . The exemplary strip of  FIG. 1  can be configured to be affixed at a page edge, such that flag  137  remains off the edge to act as an outside marker of a highlighted section, visible when the marked section is otherwise covered (e.g., the notepad/book is closed). In other exemplary embodiments, all of strip can include a layer of adhesive, including central portion, end portion, and optional second end portion, while flag  137  facilitates removal and grabbing by being free or partially free of adhesive. Flag  137  can be configured to receive writing, e.g., on its outer surface. Flag  137  can include adhesive on all or part of its under surface, for highlighting or flagging additional sections of indicia (e.g., by being detached from strip  124 ). 
     Each of the stickers  125  can have a translucent color, such that when placed over indicia (e.g.,  65 ), the indicia remains legible through the sticker and any included adhesive (as shown by sticker  60 ). The translucent color is preferably uniform so to have the appearance of highlighter ink when placed on the paper over writing. Alternatively, the color and shading of the stickers can be varied or patterned. Further, the translucent color can span the entire strip  125 , or alternatively just the center portion  128 , just the ends  126 , or other combinations. Various colors or textures can be provided for each element or different parts of each sticker. Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, the stickers  125  are free of any printing or markings, such as lines or preprinted words, so that they resemble a line of highlighting when stuck to the paper, although alternative embodiments can have printed matter thereon for other purposes. Not only can the indicia remain legible, but the translucent color can highlight that indicia, flagging it among other indicia. 
       FIG. 1  also illustrates exemplary page  120  that includes ruling or guidelines. The ruling (e.g., the guidelines) can include the evenly spaced lines  142 , and/or margin line  143 , which may be printed on either side or both sides. The ruling can also include evenly spaced vertical lines (not shown), e.g., as in common graph paper. The ruling can be configured at any number of distances  30 . For example, common spacing for rules  142  include: wide ruled (or legal ruled) as 11/32 inches (8.7 mm), medium ruled (or college ruled) as 9/32 inches (7.1 mm), or narrow ruled as ¼ in (6.35 mm). Any other spacing dimensions  30  are also possible. Also, the distance  10  from an edge of the paper  140  and margin line  143  can be any number of widths, including a common 1¼ in (31.75 mm). The main writing area (e.g., outside the margin or between dual margins), can have a distance  20 , which can include any number of widths, including standard widths (e.g., letter, legal, A4) less an associated margin or pair of margins. 
       FIG. 3  shows another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, similar to  FIG. 1 , with right end  126  being used to peal top strip  124  from the stack of stickers. Each strip  124  can include two ends  126  without adhesive or only one end  126  (not shown) without adhesive. Preferably, a central area  128  of each strip  124  includes an adhesive layer. The bottom most strip  124  of the stack can be adhered to the marginal area  114 , while each other strip  124  is releasably adhered to the back of the previous strip  124  to form the stack. Each strip can also include a tab area  130 , which may be part of the end  126 . Tab area  130  can be configured to accept indicia (e.g., by a common ink pen or common pencil). This can allow a user to affix a strip off the edge of the paper (e.g., as illustrated), to provide an external tab or flag marker. Additionally or alternatively, strips can still be affixed fully within the edges of the paper, and tab area  130  can act as a customizable area on highlight strip  124 .  FIG. 3  illustrates exemplary stickers  124  without a flag portion  137 , and about the same width or slightly smaller than the illustrated papers. 
     The exemplary highlight strips, e.g.,  124  or  125 , can be configured in a number of lengths and heights. For example, highlighter strips can be at least three times longer than they are high. They may have a height proportional to a standard line spacing (e.g., 120%, 110%, 100%, or 90% of 11/32 inch line spacing, or of ¼ inch line spacing). Highlighter strips can have a length proportional to page width dimensions. For example, standard letter sized pages can be about 8.5 inches by 11 inches, with a first margin line at about 1.25 inches from the left edge, and with an optional second margin line at about 1.25 inches from the right edge, e.g.,  144 . The highlighter strip  124  can then be proportioned with respect to one of these values, e.g., a full page width of about 8.5 inches, a width outside the margin of about 7.25 inches, or a width outside two margins of about 6 inches. Highlighter strips  124  and/or  125  can be longer than a page width, e.g., the central portion  128  can be about 8.5 inches or central portion  128  and a tab  126  can be about 8.5 inches, while another tab  126  can extend beyond the 8.5 inch page width. Highlighter strips  124  can also be some fractional portion of these values, e.g., 120%, 110%, 100%, or 90% of 8.5 inches, or of 6 inches, etc. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates another exemplary embodiment, in which base portion  110  includes a flexible flap  150  extending from the bottom end (opposite the binding  118 ) of the base portion  110 . Flap  150  can extend as a continuation of the end of the base portion  110 , e.g., from the end of marginal area  114 , or at a hinge  153 , such as a living hinge. Flap  150  can alternatively extend from a lateral side of the base  110 , and in a certain embodiment from the binding  118  side, and will preferably be connected to a side without the binding member  118 , and more preferably to the side opposite binding member  118  (e.g., the bottom side, as illustrated). 
     The supply stack of highlighter strips  125 , 137  can then be included on the marginal area  114  and covered by the flap  150  when folded over the stack of sheets  120 . In an alternative embodiment, the stickers  125  can be positioned on the inner side  151  of the flap  150 , such as in an embodiment that does not include a marginal area of the base portion. This flap  150  can be used to hold the bottom of papers  120  (e.g., as illustrated in  FIG. 4 ), and/or can be used as a bookmark or divider of two sections of papers  120  (e.g., as shown in  FIG. 6 , partitioning paper group  158  and group  156 ). This flap can be configured as a markable surface (e.g., dry erase, cardboard, paper, etc.), and/or a durable surface (e.g., plastic, metal, etc.). Hinge  153  can be removable so that flap  150  can be detached, either permanently, temporarily, or interchangeably. This flap  150  can be transparent or translucent, and in at least one embodiment can be used without the stickers  125 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates another exemplary embodiment, including an exemplary stack of highlighter strips  725 . These strips can also include a central portion  728  with adhesive included, an end portion  726  without adhesive included, and an optional second end portion  727 , with or without adhesive included. Highlighter stack  725  can be a stand alone set of highlighter strips, can be included on a base layer (e.g., a release coated substrate) (not shown), within a dispensing container (not shown), or as a refill set of highlighter strips, configured to be affixed to other exemplary embodiments. One or both sides can be free of adhesive. The adhesive-free ends  726 , 727  can be stacked in an alternative position so that when the top strip is lifted, the strips are lifted in a zigzag patterns, which can be useful when used with a container to draw up the next strip with the top one is removed. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates another exemplary embodiment, including a dispensing roll  860  of a plurality of highlighter strips  825 , e.g., within a dispenser  865 . The roll  860  can include a backing/release carrier tape  880  on which the strips  825  are carried. The tape  880  can have perforations in the backing layer between strips for removing individual strips  828 , 826 . Another detachment arrangement can include a tearable tape  880  to be torn by hand (e.g., a paper based backing with a release coating or layer for example). 
     In another exemplary embodiment, the roll  860  may rotate about an axis  867 , and each strip  825  can be connected to the next strip, such that pulling on strip  825  can bring the next strip part of the way out of the dispenser  825 . Each strip  825  can be affixed within the roll  860  to include at least some part of central portion  828  over (e.g., affixed to) the next strip&#39;s end portion  826  (e.g., a portion without adhesive), which can facilitate a first strip  828  at least partially removing a next strip from roll  860 . The user can then manually separate the first strip from the remaining strips. The roll  860  can be configured to dispense the strips in one long connected string of affixed strips, or can be configured to automatically pull one strip off at a time. 
     The exemplary roll of strips  860  illustrated in  FIG. 8  can be provided as a stand alone entity tape, or can be provided in conjunction with other entities, such as was described in previous embodiments. For example, dispensing entity  870  can be included on the back of notepad base portion  110  or on flap  150 , 
       FIG. 9  illustrates another exemplary embodiment where base portion  910  includes a cover of a binder (e.g., a three ring binder). Highlighter strip stack  925  can be included on base portion  910  at any number of locations, e.g., spots  980 - 985 , or any other suitable location. These locations can also include a dispenser roll  870 , or any other configuration of a plurality of highlighter strips. Dashed line  911  illustrates the possible profile of included sheets of paper, making each of spots  980 - 984  a marginal area. While a marginal area may be a preferable location for strips  925 , the highlighter strips can be located anywhere else on the binder, including on the outside cover area. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a single highlighter strip, including grabbing end  126 , optional second end  127 , and a central portion  128  (which can extend to include end  127  in embodiments with only one end  126 ) with a removable adhesive. The strip  128  and removable adhesive can be configured such that indicia  132  is legible beneath strip  124 . The adhesive can cause a temporary, releasable, or permanent bond with various substrates. Initially, the adhesive can form a temporary or releasable bond with at least a first release layer (e.g., the back of another highlighter strip), and subsequently can form a temporary or permanent bond with a substrate (e.g., paper with indicia thereon). Preferably, the bond will remain releasable, allowing highlighter strips to be used, re-used, removed, or otherwise moved to different locations within a substrate or multiple substrates. Other implementations can allow for strips to form a permanent bond once applied to a second substrate (e.g., for applications where a user wants to ensure highlighting is not altered or undone). 
     All of the references specifically identified in the detailed description section of the present application are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference thereto. The term “about,” as used herein, should generally be understood to refer to both the corresponding number and a range of numbers. Moreover, all numerical ranges herein should be understood to include each whole integer within the range. Moreover, various adhesives and/or bonds are described as temporary and/or permanent. These can relate to a general relative strength between the two, whether the bond would cause structural damage if removed, whether the adhesive can be reused after a previous use, or any number of other relative strength distinctions between permanent, semi-permanent, temporary, and/or removable. In the case of paper envelopes, a permanent adhesion would typically remove a layer of paper along with the strip as it is pulled off. References to more permanent adhesion indicates a noticeably stronger adhesion that a temporary adhesion. Also, exemplary envelopes can be of any size, shape, and/or material, including standards sizes configured to receive one or more standard sized papers, e.g., letter, legal, A4, etc. 
     In exemplary embodiments described herein, indicia may be used to describe any number of markings, pre-printed text, hand-written text, graphics, images, symbols, or similar. Further, when legibility is discussed, legible can refer to being technically legible (e.g., able to be read), equally legible, and/or highly legible (e.g., near-equal, equal, or even of greater readability). Moreover, certain exemplary highlighter strips can be described as being configured to be placed over indicia while the indicia remains legible, which can include all suitable configurations of the highlighter strips, even if specialized configurations of the indicia would render that indicia illegible. For example, a highlighter strip of a certain color (e.g., yellow) can be configured to be placed over indicia while the indicia remains legible, if certain indicia-characteristics allow it to be legible (e.g., black colored indicia), even if certain other specific indicia-characteristics do not allow it to be legible (e.g., indicia of the exact or near same yellow color). 
     While illustrative embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. For example, the features for the various embodiments can be used in other embodiments. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments that come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1