GB2484419A - Multi-year calendar - Google Patents

Abstract

A multi-year calendar of two main parts 12, 14; part one 12 has the 28-31 days of the month arranged in blocks 7 wide or 7 high and each block is titled with its month name. January and February shall each have a month block for normal years and one for leap years, in leap years February 29th resides in the column/row adjacent to 1st March. Part two 14 of the calendar is printed with the years and the weekdays, and is adjusted once yearly. When correctly aligned, the two parts create a complete calendar. The month blocks are re-used each year for as many years as are printed on part two. Rotation of the month blocks is required to display the current date all year round. A calendar is available in several formats including split leaf, rotating disc, scroll, band, drop sheet. Multi-year sensibly being a single or double digit year lifespan.

Description

Calendar This device relates to a Calendar that can be used for several years.

There are many examples of prior art in the calendar sector, mainly of the perpetual kind, this calendar is a cross between a normal yearly disposable calendar and a perpetual calendar.

Yearly disposable calendars are wasteful of paper and purchase time, and money, and if annual reminder notes are added to this type of calendar they need to be copied onto a new calendar every year. Whereas the majority of perpetual calendars are complicated, more expensive, and the user is generally unable to add reminder notes to the calendar.

This is a simple calendar system consisting of two main parts, it will typically last for several years (single and double digit year timespans being sensible), has similar functionality to a yearly disposable, and in certain formats it should cost little more than a disposable yearly calendar to manufacture, and therefore the consumer and the environment should benefit significantly.

Part one of a calendar is the 12 months of 28-31 days, each printed in a block 7 wide or 7 high, much like the majority of loose leaf 1-year disposable calendars. The weekdays will not be printed on this part, but the month name will be. There shall be 14 blocks in total there being two for each month of January and February, one for normal years and one for leap years, this being to cater for the extra February day in leap years. Rotation of the month blocks being required to display the current day all year round.

Part two of a calendar shall contain the weekdays and the year, and may indicate leap year status. Relative to the year before the weekday arrangement changes by two days at the beginning of a leap year and one day at the beginning of a normal year.

Part one and part two are aligned so that a complete calendar is produced. This arrangement means that it is only necessary to adjust part two once a year, at the beginning of each year, to show the correct weekday arrangement for that year.

Technically it is possible to label part two of a calendar with the year number without actually printing the year number on part two of a calendar three example ways of doing this are: a) By printing a reference code instead of the year number, the user would then cross-reference the code with a list to check that they were displaying the correct part two weekday arrangement. b) Invisibly by printing elsewhere on either a calendar or its packaging the range of years to which a calendar applies and therefore the user knows what the start year is and can therefore keep the correct part two displayed by changing the part two at the correct time. c) Invisibly by having to cross reference external data such as another calendar i.e. a calendar may be sold that is labelled simply as a ten-year calendar without any year numbers being printed on the calendar and without any mention of the years to which the calendar applies being printed on the packaging thus leaving it for the purchaser to establish to which years a calendar applies. These type of year labelling systems whilst not as clear as actual part two year labelling are considered to be covered by the scope of this specification.

Technically it is also possible to label part two of a calendar with the weekdays without printing all 7 days on part two, for example if only one weekday is printed on part two it is easily possible to deduce where the other weekdays lie, this being especially useful where part two is printed on a (limited for space) rotating disc.

Two main variants of this calendar are envisaged: leaf calendars and continuous sheet calendars. Leaf calendar part ones may typically have one month printed on each page such that typically once a month the pages are rotated to display the current month, the pages typically being hinged or loose. Continuous sheet calendars having the month blocks printed on a continuous sheet, and having a display area such that when the display is out of date the current month can be displayed by rotation of the continuous sheet. (Continuous sheet may typically be scroll or band format). Sensibly leaf calendars and scroll calendar would display one or two months (in the display area), band calendars may typically display more than two months (to reduce the band length).

Several fonnats of this type of calendar are envisaged, and some shall now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Figures la & lb relate to split leaf format calendars Figures 2a, 2b & 2c relate to scroll format calendars Figure 3 relates to dual month display continuous sheet calendars Figures 4a & 4b relate to drop sheet format calendars Figure la shows an example of possibly the simplest format of a calendar, this format consists of several leaves, just like normal disposable 1-year calendars. There may typically be fourteen part one month block leaves, one for each of the twelve months of a normal year plus two extra months showing an adjusted arrangement for leap year months January and February (including February 29th)* The part two shown in fig. la is also printed on leaves. Part one 12 shows the name of the month e.g. February and 28-31 numbered days arranged in a block that is 7 wide, in January for example there are 31 numbered days Part two 14 shows the year and the weekdays arranged in the correct order for that particular year. The two parts make a complete calendar and months shall typically be changed by turning to the next month leaf. At the beginning of the next year part two of a calendar may be turned to the correct year/weekday arrangement, as an alternative part two may simply tear-off to reveal the correct year/weekday arrangement. It makes sense if the leaves are ordered January leap, February leap January normal, February normal, march normal etc. so that in three out of every four years the leap leaves are left unturned, in that way only once in four years do additional sheets require turning. Figure lb depicts the normal year month block of February and demonstrates that February 28 of the normal February month block is positioned in the same box occupied by February 29' in leap years. For this format I do not believe there is any inventive worth in concocting anything more complex than leap year Jan/Feb month blocks that operate in the same manner as the other month blocks, and therefore do not describe more complex alternatives here, though they are deemed covered by the scope of this specification.

If there are equal numbers of part one and part two leaves then a leaf calendar could last 14 years.

The reverse of the leaves 13 may be printed in a similar fashion to a normal 1-year disposable calendar i.e. with a picture, and the calendar may be provided with two hanging points so that a calendar may be hung to either display a picture plus a calendar month or just a calendar month. Hanging points and part one hinges should be durable to allow re-use for several years.

As a calendar is printed with the intention that part one the month part is re-used for several years it will not be possible to print all the annual occasions on the actual dates that they occur as dates such as Easter change each year. Dates that fall on the same date each year may be printed on part one on that date e.g. new years day may be printed on part one January leaf in the box numbered 1/Vt. Dates that follow a strict simple pattern e.g. the August Bank Holiday that is always on the last Monday in August may be printed on part one August leaf but not in any one specific box.

Wording such as "August Bank Holiday Last Monday of Month" may be printed either outside the block of 3! date boxes or it may be printed across the last 7 boxes of the month, if such wording is printed outside the last 7 date boxes the boxes and the writing may be colour coded for ease of reference. Other dates such as Easter vary significantly these type of dates may be printed on the part two year leaf with wording such as "Good Friday is on April this year". Such wording may also be colour coded/highlighted and referenced with the months of March and April. The part two year leaf may have a complete list of all annual occasions occurring in that year (on a split leaf calendar such as shown in fig 1 a the list may run down one or both sides of the month block so that it can be easily referenced with the month). The location of such dates may vary depending on the version of the calendar, and may typically be located in the most ergonomic position available on either part one or part two of the calendar. Any or all annual occasion dates may actually be omitted from a calendar.

Each of the date boxes on part one of a calendar may be large enough so that Birthdays etc. may be written on a calendar.

in the example shown in Figure la part one is shown bordered 15 by part two on all but the hinged side of the leaves 11, in this type of arrangement there may be a device to make turning the part one leaves easier, for example this may simply be a hole in the leaves into which the user can put their finger in order to lift the edge of the leaves or it may simply be a packing/raising strip of cardboard that sits under the part one leaves and raises the edge of these leaves so that they sit slightly proud of the part two leaves, just enough so that the user can get hold of the edge of the leaves and turn them over. The backing board may be thick enough so that if the backing board has a hole cut in it at an appropriate place, by pressing on the leaves above the hole then the leaves will press down into the hole and therefore the edge of the leaves will lift allowing a finger to grab the edge and turn the leaves. There may even be a flip up device fitted, press the free end of a hinged partly curved lever that lies under the leaves and the free end will press down and the other end will lift making the edges of the leaves lift up so that they can be grabbed and turned. A mini sucker pad may be supplied so that the top leaf can be grabbed using the sucking action of the sucker pad.

Alternatively the months may be printed in reverse order so that each new month leaf is displayed on top of the preceding month for example if September is the new month it will lie immediately on top of August, and as such, in terms of turning over the leaves of part one are not hemmed in by part two until the end of the year, at which point they may be easily turned back to January perhaps with the aid of a hole in the back of the calendar.

The larger versions of a calendar may be wall hung, but smaller versions may be made available so that they may be stood on a desk. As there is no requirement to hang desk calendars by the leaves then simple versions of split leaf calendars (with off-centre month blocks) are a sensible (cheap) format choice. When used as desk calendars they may have a fold out prop like a photo frame, or they may be placed in a separate typically triangular stand. It is not envisaged that any such stand/prop will be novel and therefore no specific details are given in this specification.

Figure 2a shows an example of a scroll format of a calendar. Part one of a calendar is printed so that the twelve months are arranged in a continuous sheet, and this part is attached at each end to a roller 21, between the rollers there is a section of the scroll on display, to change the month simply turn the appropriate roller. This format of a calendar may display a full month 26 plus the beginning of the next month 22 so that any recorded Birthdays etc. that fall at the beginning of the next month are on display without needing to turn to the next month. Alternatively scroll part one area 22 may be covered and may display a picture, it may be a hingedlmovable cover so that the user may peak at the beginning of the next month without scrolling. The display area may have a backing board so that the scroll may be written on without damaging the scroll or the underlying surface/wall if there is an underlying surface/wall. Where fourteen separate month blocks are used the month blocks may scroll parallel or perpendicular to the weekday listing, and the month blocks would sensibly be ordered as per the split leaf calendar. However where the normal year and leap year January and February month blocks are overlapped (to create an 8 wide block) then the month blocks should scroll parallel to the weekday listing so that the calendar month blocks can be adjusted in the simplest manner possible that being by scrolling the month block continuous sheet. Whilst more complex adjustments are possible, and deemed covered by the scope of this specification they are completely unnecessary and are therefore not described here. The display area (where overlapping month blocks are used) may typically be of a width to display only 7 days at a time such that the eighth column/row is hidden when it is not relevant.

Part two of a scroll format calendar may also be printed so that the years and weekdays are arranged in a continuous sheet, and this part may also be attached at each end to a roller 25. This part may be arranged perpendicular to part one and this part shall lie in front of the part one scroll but may lie behind a screen 23. If a screen is used it shall have appropriately sized windows through which the year and weekdays are displayed 24. To change the year simply turn the appropriate roller and the weekdays will automatically change in accordance with the year.

At the beginning of each year rewind the part one month scroll to start again on the month of January.

Annual occasion dates on a scroll format of a calendar may be arranged as described previously.

Figures 2h and 2c depict a sideways scrolling calendar in which the January and February leap year and normal year month blocks overlap. As shown both parts one and parts two scroll to the correct display by turning the scroll knobs 29, the display area of part two 28 being of a width to display a 7 day width of month block. Figure 2c shows an example overlapping February month block arrangement, the month blocks have been arranged so that February 29th is located in the corner 27 of the 8 wide (overlapping) block such that February 29th is only displayed in leap years.

Continuous sheet calendars may also be produced in band format such that the month blocks travel on a continuous loop so that the sheet does not have to be rewound each year. Whilst the band could loop around more than two reels (the sheet doubling back on itself) this may be unnecessarily complex, it being more sensible to reduce the length of the loop by printing the month blocks in pairs or more, and to use lapping Jan/Feb month blocks. For example March to July in one column, August to December in another and Lapping January and February with a 3 month block sized picture in a final column (rotate to display either two or five months). In that manner the display area would not be significantly wider than the overall width of the calendar (front and back being two colunm widths and the (curving) sides (plus a little front and back) being the third).

Month blocks may be butted up against each other to save space (adjacent months fit together like pieces of a jigsaw), the month name being printed along the side of the block or in feint across the block, colour coding and/or heavy lines may be used to distinguish one month from the next. Where blocks (part two) are butted together then the weekdays (part one) can also bun right up against the blocks.

Figure 3 shows example month blocks that have been butted together in pairs, the part two display area is shown in heavy dashed line 31. The numbers used in the first column of the overlapping Jan/Feb month blocks are positioned to the left 32 and the eighth column to the right 33 of the boxes so that they are hidden in leap and normal years respectively. The months are separated by a heavy line 34, colour coding etc. could be used to (further) distinguish one month from another. As shown the month blocks have a month label along both sides of the block so that when the overlapping Jan/Feb blocks are adjusted the month name is visible at one side or the other. The eighth column is labelled "LEAP" at the bottom (where it doesn't clash with the weekdays) to indicate that that column should be on display in leap years.

Figure 4a shows an example of a loose leaf calendar this example being a drop sheet format of a calendar, in this format the part one twelve months are printed on separate loose pages/sheets 41, and each of these pages can be attached/hung on part two of a calendar. Part two of a drop sheet format calendar has the years/weekdays of a calendar 42, in this example the weekdays are arranged in a column, AND part two includes an open topped receptacle 43. Part one month pages attach and are displayed above the receptacle, when a month ends that month can be detached and dropped out of sight into the receptacle allowing the next month to be displayed. When one year finishes empty the receptacle and start a new year by re-attaching the months and by revealing a new part two year /weekday page. The bottom of the part one pages are likely to extend slightly into the receptacle, overlapping with the top of the preceding month, this will allow the pages to automatically drop behind the preceding month, and keep the months in order. This shall also effectively restrain the bottom of the pages so that they cannot be easily lifted off by a gust of wind. Also where the January and February leap year and normal year month blocks overlap these blocks can extend into the receptacle to hide the eighth row of the overlapping block. The simplest example of an attachment method for the pages is for them to hang on a hook, though the scope of this specification shall include all other suitable alternatives. The loose pages may be in the shape of an inverted T so that they are wider at the bottom than the slot in the top of the receptacle so that they can only be removed through a hole in the back of the calendar, and so that at the end of the year the calendar months can be re-set by turning the calendar upside down, re-attaching the pages at the top and then turning the calendar the correct way up again. Part two of this format may also be in drop sheet format, or the out of date year/weekday sheets may simply be removed from the calendar as they are not required for re-use. Whilst each month block of a loose page calendar can be printed on separate sheets, it makes sense to either print the leap year month blocks (Jan & Feb) on the back of the January and February normal year month block sheet(s) so that the sheet(s) can be reversed in leap years, or as the sheets are typically hung on the calendar the normal and leap month blocks can be arranged overlapping, and the sheets provided with two hanging positions, if the calendar has a single hook and the sheet is horizontally adjusted then to maintain verticality of the sheet in both hanging positions the calendar will normally require a stop to prevent the sheet from rotating out of vertical, however if the sheets hang from more than one hook a stop would not be required.

Also (as shown in figure 4b) if the weekdays are arranged in a colunm and the block is correspondingly rotated such that it is 8 high then a stop would not be required as the hanging points 44 would be directly above each other and spaced vertically one day apart (and in normal years the bottom of the block 45 would be hidden). Display areas may be framed to hide parts of the blocks such that only 7 rows/columns are visible in any one hanging position, or as shown in figure 4b all eight rows would be displayed in leap years but the eighth (Vt) row would not be labelled with a weekday, and to further distinguish these boxes from the 7 rows of leap year boxes they may be separated by a dashed line 46, and the numbers used in the boxes of the eighth (15t) row may be located at the top of the boxes rather than the bottom such that they are as far away from the weekday list as possible. The receptacle front 43 may be used as a picture frame, mirror etc. If part one and part two of a calendar are banded continuous sheets then it is possible to automate the part two year change with rotation of part one. Part one having a catch that engages with spaced catches on part two, the catches only engaging for a single short period before the forking (diverging) route of part one and part two bands disengages the part one catch from one of the part two catches until the next year. If part two is in rotating disc format then spokes on the disc would engage annually with the catch on the part one band. Etc. etc. however I regard such mechanisms as unnecessary complication for no real gain, and shall therefore refrain from giving further details.

The formats as described above may be mixed and matched, and this specification is deemed to include all such variants e.g. Part one of a scroll format may be combined with a part two that is printed in leaf format. Other suitable formats may also be used, for example part two could be on a rotating disc and part one could sensibly be on 14 leaves.

Claims (8)

1. Claims 1. A multi-year calendar which includes two main parts, part one shall contain blocks of 28-31 days that are either 7 wide or 7 high, each block shall be labelled with an appropriate month name e.g. January, part two of the calendar shall contain year numbers e.g. 2012 and rows or columns of weekdays, each year starts with a weekday that is different from the previous year, and compared with the previous year the weekday listing is adjusted by two days at the beginning of a leap year and by one day at the beginning of normal years, the two main parts of the calendar are placed together in alignment so that a complete calendar is produced, rotation of part one month blocks being required to display the current date all year round, January and February shall each have two month blocks; one for normal years and one for leap years, this being so that in leap years February 29th takes the position normally occupied by February 28th in the column/row adjacent to march l the other 28 days of February and 31 days of January having their positions adjusted accordingly by one day, part two requires adjusting just once a year whether leap or normal year, multi-year sensibly being a single or double digit year timespan.
2. 2. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least part one is in leaf format, there being several part one leaves, and the leaves requiring rotation to display the correct date all year round.
3. 3. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim I, wherein at least part one is in continuous sheet format, the month blocks being on a continuous sheet, the sheet being rotated to display the correct date in a display area.
4. 4. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 3, wherein the January and February normal year and leap year month blocks are arranged in an overlapping manner, the combined width being 8 days, with the display area being of a width that displays 7 days of the sheet only, thereby the correct 7 day width block can be displayed in leap and normal years using the same rotation adjustment method.
5. 5. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the overlapping month blocks are arranged so that February 29 is printed at the corner of the block, so that it is only displayed in leap years -when the leap year February month block is displayed.
6. 6. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the leap and normal year month blocks are non-lapped blocks, and the leap year month blocks are attached before the normal month blocks so that in 3 out of 4 years they can be ignored,
7. 7. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the calendar is loose leafed, and the leap year month blocks are printed on the reverse of the normal January and February month block leaves so that in 3 out of 4 years they can be ignored.
8. 8. A multi-year calendar, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the calendar is loose leafed and the January and February leap and normal year month blocks overlap to create 8 wide blocks, and the January and February leaves have two hanging positions, and at least in normal years the eighth row/column is hidden.