GB2477305A - A note pad holder for a shopping trolley - Google Patents

Abstract

A note pad holder has a back plate 14 and a cover, and means to retain the cover against the back plate to clamp a first section of the note pad 12 there between. The cover can be removed from the back plate and includes an aperture 20 through which a further section of the note pad can protrude so to lie unobstructed against the front face of the cover. The back plate and cover may be connected by a hinge, and the first section of the pad held there between may be an anchor sheet. The back of the note pad holder may be provided with a magnet and it may also have a spring loaded clip for attaching it to the handle of a shopping trolley. The back of the note pad holder may also have retention means for a writing instrument and a coin widget. The holder is particularly intended for holding a shopping list on the handle of a trolley.

Description

A clip board The present invention relates to a clip board. More especially, the invention relates to a clip board which can be attached to a shopping trolley during use.

Many individuals will typically visit the supermarket once a week with a reasonable knowledge of what items they intend to purchase. The process of shopping though for many is not an enjoyable experience and is often rushed resulting in items being forgotten. The omittance of the items is not usually realised until the individual has left the shop and returned home and, on the majority of occasions, time or simple lack of desire, causes the individual to go without those items.

The present invention seeks to alleviate these problems by providing a small ergonomically designed clip board for a note pad which can be mounted on a kitchen surface, such as a fridge door, and which can be removed from said surface for subsequent attachment to a supermarket trolley.

A further problem the Applicant has identified is with existing clip boards. These generally comprise a plastic board with a clip across the top which grips the top of a notepad against the board. A problem with such clip boards is that the top portion, which in some circumstances can represent a substantial part of the pad, is obstructed by the clip itself. The i1 has to be quite large to adequately hold the entire width of the pad against the board. Moreoever, to remove the front piece of paper from the pad the clip must be released which releases the entire pad from the board. This is inconvenient as the user must, often in a single motion, hold the pad to stop it from falling whilst also holding the board, tearing off the page and lifting the clip to place the pad back under the clip.

The invention also seeks to alleviate this problem by providing a clip board that retains the base of the pad against the board at all times whilst leaving the paper of the pad unobstructed.

In one aspect there is provided, a note pad holder comprising a back plate and a cover, means to retain the cover against the back plate to clamp a first section of the note pad therebetween and means to remove the cover from the backplate; wherein the cover includes an aperture through which a further section of the note pad can protrude so to lie unobstructed against the front face of the cover.

Preferably the back plate and cover are linked together in a hinge arrangement.

Preferably the first section of the note pad is or includes the anchoring sheet.

By "anchoring sheet" it is meant the back board or sheet of the note pad.

Preferably the back plate and cover are constructed from plastic and preferably still re-cycled plastic.

In a second aspect there is provided a note pad holder comprising a support plate having a front and back surface and means to retain a pad against a front surface of the support plate; the back surface of the support plate having a magnet for attachment of the holder to a metallic surface; the back surface of the support plate further including a means to clip the holder to the handle of a supermarket trolley when the holder is removed from the metallic surface.

The magnet may be located within a housing detachable from the back surface of the support plate.

Preferably the clip means is spring loaded. Preferably still the spring is a compression spring.

Preferably the holder includes a housing or clips for holding a writing instrument.

Preferably still the holder includes a housing or clips for holding a coin widget.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures in which Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a clip board constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the underside of the clip board of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side perspective view of the clip board of Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a clip board constructed in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 is an illustrative view of a note pad for use with the clip board of Figure 1 or Figure 4.

Referring first to Figure 1, the invention relates to a clip board 10 for use as a support to a paper note pad 12. The description refers to a "clip board" in the generic sense of the term. It will be appreciated though that the embodiment of Figure 1 does not utilise a clip mechanism as such to retain the pad 10 against the board 12, nevertheless the embodiment of Figure is still referred to hereinafter as a clip board to aid the reader's understanding.

The clip board 10 comprises a back plate 14 and a front cover 16. In use, the back plate 14 and front cover 16 are secured together to provide a single piece structure as can be seen in the figures. A simple release mechanism, such as a depression switch is included to release the back plate 14 from the cover 16 when required.

The back plate 14 and front cover may be separate pieces which clip together using conventional means or may be hinged together at their top ends.

The back plate 14 and cover 16 are both manufactured by an injection moulding process using recycled plastic. Any other suitable material or manufacturing process may, however, be used.

The cover 16 has an aperture 20 (shown in broken lines in Figure 1) in a top part thereof.

Figure 1 shows the note pad 12 resting on, and retained against, the clip board 10. To hold the note pad 12 against the clip board 10, the back plate 14 and cover 16 are firstly released from each other. The back sheet (usually made of cardboard) is then placed within an inner recess (not shown) formed within back plate 14. The cover 16 is then placed over the note pad 12 such that the rest of the note pad paper protrudes through the aperture 20 in such a way that the paper rests over the front face of the cover 16. The note pad is held against the clip board 10, with the paper face unobstructed, by virtue of the back sheet of the note pad 12 being clamped between the back plate 14 and cover 14.

Once a sheet of the note pad 12 has been used, it can be simply torn off to expose the next sheet without the need to unclamp the pad 12 from the clip board 10. Moreover, the entire sheet is exposed to allow a greater surface area for use.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the cover does not have an aperture but instead there is provided a ciap between the edges of the back plate 14 and cover 16 through which the note pad paper extends to lie over the front face of the cover.

The underside of the back plate 14 is shown in Figure 2. The underside includes clips 22 to hold a writing instrument 24 such as a pencil or pen.

Also attached to, or integrally formed with, the back plate 14 is a clip 26 loaded with a compression spring. As can be seen best in Figure 3, the clip 26 has an arm 28 ending in an arcuate structure. A corresponding arcuate moulding 30 is formed on the underside of the back plate 14 directly underneath the arm 28.

The arm 28 and the moulding 30 together form a cylindrical grip mechanism which allows the clip board 10 to be clipped, for example, to the hand rail of a supermarket trolley or cart. The cylindrical grip mechanism allows for rotation of the clip board 10 around the hand rail to provide the desired orientation of the clip board 10 for the user.

To imirove cirirj them a neoirene rad, or iad of similar anti-friction material may be irovided on the arm 28 and/or moulding 30. This is articularly useful if the hand rail is wet, for examDle when the trolley has been left outside in the rain.

The underside of the clip 26 has embedded therein a magnet 32. On other occasions, when not used in conjunction with a supermarket trolley, the magnet 32 allows the clip board 10 to be held against a metallic kitchen surface, for example a fridge door.

Alternatively or additionally a further attachment means could be used, such as a sticky iad to allow the clii board 10 to be attached to any other surface, not necessarily a magnetic one.

The underside of the back plate 14 also includes a clip or clips 34 to hold a coin widget 36 for use with supermarket trolleys which require a coin for use. The coin widget 36 is formed with an extension piece with a thumb grip 38 50 that it can be easily detached from the back plate 14. The thumb grip is accessible due to a corresponding recess 40 formed in the front cover 16.

The inner recess of the back plate 14, which receives the back sheet of the note pad 12 in use, could be formed with a specifically shaped profile. The note pad 12, or at least the back sheet of the note pad 12 would be designed with a matching profile. Not only would this aid the retention of the back sheet within the clip board 10 but it would also ensure that only specific note pads 12 having he matching profile could be used with the clip board.

Figure 4 shows a further embodiment of a clip board 10. Here, the features on the back plate 14 are retained to allow the clip board to be attached to a fridge and a supermarket trolley. In this embodiment however, the note pad 12 is held against the clip board 10 by means of a conventional clip mechanism 42.

Figure 5 shows an example note pad 12 recommended for use with the clip board 10.

Each sheet of the note pad has a list of common food items down one side. Next to each item is a tick box that can be filled in by the user as and when they find that such item is required. This avoids items being missed as is often the case when a list is prepared just before a shopping trip. When a trip to the shops is required, the user simply removes the clip board 10 from the fridge, with the list intact and takes it with them to the shop for attachment to the supermarket trolley. The overall size and dimensions of the clip board 10 and note pad 12 are designed to allow the clip board 10 to be easily handled and transported.

For example, a clip board ergonomically designed for use with an A7 note pad could fit in a pocket of the use for easy transportation.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing are merely an examples of embodiments of a clip board and note pad and just some examples of there use. The skilled reader will readily understand that modifications can be made thereto without departing from the true scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. Claims 1. A note pad holder comprising a back plate and a cover, means to retain the cover against the back plate to clamp a first section of the note pad therebetween and means to remove the cover from the backplate; wherein the cover includes an aperture through which a further section of the note pad can protrude so to lie unobstructed against the front face of the cover.
2. 2. A note pad holder according to claim 1, wherein back plate and cover are linked together in a hinge arrangement.
3. 3. A note pad holder according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first -is section of the note pad is or includes the anchoring sheet.
4. 4. A note pad holder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the back plate and cover are constructed from plastic. C)
5. 5. A note pad holder comprising a support plate having a front and back surface and means to retain a pad against a front surface of the support plate; the back surface of the support plate having a magnet for attachment of the holder to a metallic surface; the back surface of the support plate further including a means to clip the holder to the handle of a supermarket trolley when the holder is removed from the metallic surface.
6. 6. A note pad holder according to claim 5, wherein the magnet is located within a housing detachable from the back surface of the support plate.
7. 7. A note pad holder according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the clip means is spring loaded.
8. 8. A note pad holder according to claim 7, wherein the spring is a compression spring.
9. 9. A note pad holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder includes means for holding a writing instrument.
10. 10. A note pad holder according to any preceding claim, wherein the holder includes means for holding a coin widget. C)