WO1994007228A2

WO1994007228A2 - Holder for repositionable notes

Info

Publication number: WO1994007228A2
Application number: PCT/GB1993/001994
Authority: WO
Inventors: Timothy John Leyland
Original assignee: Corporate Culture Limited
Priority date: 1992-09-22
Filing date: 1993-09-22
Publication date: 1994-03-31
Also published as: WO1994007228A3; AU4827993A

Abstract

Repositionable notes (3) having adhesive applied thereto are arranged on a holder comprising a plurality of relatively rigid carrier sheets (1A, 1B) fastened together along one edge of the holder. The notes are repeatedly taken from one position in the holder and placed in another position and can be positioned in overlapping reltionship (3C, 3D, 3E) to enable more notes to be accommodated whilst still allowing each note to be read.

Description

Holder For Repositionable Notes

This invention relates to a method of arranging in a holder a multiplicity of repositionable notes and to a holder for use in such a method. The notes have adhesive applied thereto and may be Post-it (trade mark) notes.

Adhesive notes such as Post-it (trade mark) notes are very common. Commonly a message to the writer or another person is written on a note and the note is then put on a piece of paper, a file or perhaps a desk or telephone.

Such notes have become very popular and are used in considerable numbers.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for managing a multiplicity of repositionable notes.

According to the invention there is provided a method of arranging in a holder a multiplicity of repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto, the holder including a plurality of carrier sheets fastened together along one edge of the holder, each carrier sheet having at least one face suitable for receiving a multiplicity of said repositionable notes, the method including writing respective matters on each of the repositionable notes, applying each note to a respective carrier sheet or a respective region of a face of a respective carrier sheet, taking a note from one position in the holder and replacing it in another position in the holder, and repeating the taking and replacing steps with other notes a multiplicity of times. The use of a purpose-made holder for receiving repositionable notes proves to be surprisingly advantageous. Notes can be moved from one part of the holder to another to signify a change in status of the matter written on the note without any need to re-write the note and with very little other effort.

Preferably each repositionable note has adhesive applied to part only of one face of the note. Such notes are known per se and are indeed a most common form of Post-it (trade mark) note, each note having a strip of adhesive applied thereto adjacent to one edge (the top) of the note. The remainder of the note is free of adhesive.

It is an especially important and advantageous feature of the present invention that at least some of the replacing steps comprise replacing a note with its adhesive in contact with the carrier sheet and with a major part of the note overlapping another note fixed to the carrier sheet. Preferably overlapping notes are arranged on the carrier sheet with their adhesive strips lying alongside one another. The use of overlapping notes has proved surprisingly practicable and enables very many more notes to be accommodated on a carrier sheet whilst still allowing each individual note to be read without removing it or any others from the carrier sheet. The notes may be positioned in the holder in a plurality of groups, at least most groups comprising a multiplicity of notes. In the case where the holder is acting as a business organiser, for example, there may be a group of notes relating to jobs to be undertaken that day, another group of notes relating to jobs to be discussed at a meeting, another group of notes relating to jobs to be done during the following week, etc.. A group of notes may occupy an entire face of a carrier sheet or part only of the face. The carrier sheet may be pre-printed with markings to indicate which notes should be placed where or the sheet may be entirely blank and the user may simply select which regions to use for what purpose. If desired, a user may use a repositionable note, which may be the same or different from the multiplicity of repositionable notes to indicate the category of notes to be positioned at a particular part of the holder. For most purposes it is preferable that the holder be able to receive at least 50 notes and there may, for example, be three to seven different groups of notes.

The carrier sheets may be fastened together by a binding, which may be of any suitable kind. In an embodiment of the invention to be described below, a wire binding is employed. The holder may be provided with a cover which may for example be made of leather. Although it is possible for the holder to comprise simply two sheets, it is preferable for there to be three sheets and more than three sheets may also be provided. The sheets may be of approximately A4 size, in which case a suitable size for each note is about 5 cm by about 3.7 cm. It is, however, possible for the holder to be of other sizes and, for example, a pocket-sized holder may be provided, in which case smaller notes are preferably used.

Each carrier sheet is preferably so rigid that when supported only along the fastened edge it remains in substantially a single plane, the carrier sheets being pivotable about their fastened edges. The use of relatively rigid sheets rather than sheets as flexible as ordinary paper is contrary to conventional practice used in for example business organisers. We have found, however, that the use of such sheets greatly facilitates the handling of the notes.

Preferably, at least the surface of each carrier sheet is made of a material which is not affected by and does not affect the adhesive on the notes, whereby the notes may be repositioned a multiplicity of times with no substantial loss of adhesion. The sheet is preferably made of a material which does not absorb the adhesive on the notes. The material may be a plastics material. Preferably, the entire sheet is made of the material which may be a se i-expanded-polypropylene material. A suitable material is that sold under the trade mark FOAMEX.

The matter written on the note will commonly be a job to be done and may also include the name of a person involved in the job. The matter may however take any of a wide variety of forms and may for example simply be a list of persons' names (perhaps names of people to be visited) or a list of goods to be bought, etc.. The "status" of the material will often be the degree of urgency and/or importance of the matter but it may for example be some other facet of the matter. For example, if the matter is a job, it may be whether the job has been started, partly completed or fully completed.

The invention enables a very large number of notes to be kept in good order. Because of the number of notes involved, it is useful to have a substantial supply of blank notes kept in the holder. Accordingly, at least one of the carrier sheets preferably carries a plurality of stacks of notes, each stack comprising at least three notes.

A carrier sheet preferably carries more than 30 notes, each of which is directly and repositionably mounted on the sheet. As described above and as further described below with reference to the drawings, notes may be mounted on the sheet in overlapping relationship and in that way many more notes can be accommodated on a sheet. For example there may be a single column of more than 20 notes and there may be four columns of notes on each page so that more than 50 notes may easily be carried on a single carrier sheet, and even 100 or more notes may be carried on a single carrier sheet.

Whilst the method of the invention involves the use of both notes and a holder, the notes are of a kind that can already be purchased separately and it may be desired, therefore, to provide the holder separately. According to the invention there is also provided a holder for arranging a multiplicity of repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto, the holder including a plurality of carrier sheets fastened together, each carrier sheet having at least one face suitable for receiving a multiplicity of said reposition¬ able notes, whereby a multiplicity of notes can be applied to the plurality of carrier sheets and transferred by a user from one carrier sheet to another or from one region of one carrier sheet to another region of the same sheet.

It is advantageous to provide certain special notes to increase further the amount of information that can be stored in the holder. Those notes are themselves novel and inventive.

Thus, according to another aspect of the invention there is provided a repositionable note formed as a multiplicity of portions folded on top of one another, the multiplicity of portions comprising a base portion to at least a part of the back of which adhesive is applied to enable the base portion to be taken from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times, and other portions directly or indirectly connected to one or more edges of the base portion and overlying the base portion in the folded condition of the note.

Such a note need only occupy the area of the base portion in the folded position, but in the unfolded position is able to provide a far greater area for written information. Preferably the multiplicity of portions are folded on top of one another in concertina fashion. The portions are preferably connected to each other along top and bottom edges. In the case of such a note, it is a simple matter to unfold the note while it remains fixed in position and thereby obtain a much extended area for written information. The note can also readily be returned to the folded condition.

As an alternative to the concertina arrangement, respective ones of said other portions may be connected to different edges of the base portion. For example one respective portion may be connected to each edge of the base portion. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a repositionable note formed as a multi¬ plicity of portions stacked on top of one another and permanently fastened to one another at a corner or along one edge, at least a part of the back of the bottom one of the portions having adhesive applied thereto to enable the base portion to be taken from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a repositionable note formed as a scroll which can be unwound to a substantially planar configuration and which when released automatically winds up, with adhesive applied to a face of the note at one end to enable the note to be taken from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times.

The holder (and notes) may have any of the features required to enable a method as defined above to be carried out and may be used to carry out such a method. By way of example an embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a holder for a multiplicity of repositionable notes with the holder shown in a closed position; Fig. 2 is a plan view to an enlarged scale of a part of the holder shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view to a smaller scale than Fig. 1 of the holder shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in an open position; Fig. 4a is a side view of a special form of note, the note being shown in an almost fully folded condition; Fig. 4b is a plan view of the note of Fig. 4a, the note being shown in a fully unfolded condition;

Fig. 5a is a sectional side view along the lines X-X in Fig. 5b of another special form of note, the note being shown in an almost fully folded condition; and Fig. 5b is a plan view of the note of Fig. 5a, the note being shown in a fully unfolded condition.

The holder shown in Fig. 1 comprises three sheets 1A, IB and 1C fastened together by a wire binding 2 that is shown to an enlarged scale in Fig. 2. In Fig. 1 only the top one 1A of the three sheets 1A to 1C is visible. Each sheet 1 is of A4 size with rounded corners and in this particular example is made of a plastics material sold under the trade mark FOAMEX and has a thickness of 1 mm. The sheets are rigid by comparison with paper and, if held in a horizontal plane along the edge that is bound, the sheet is able to support its own weight so that the edge opposite to the edge that is held remains substantially horizontal (the downward inclination of said opposite edge is less than 15 degrees).

The material from which each sheet 1A to 1C is made is such that repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto and, in particular, paper Post-it (trade mark) notes can be stuck to any part of any sheet, removed from the sheet and stuck to any part of any sheet over and over again without significant loss of adhesion between the note and the sheet (when such notes are stuck to ordinary paper, it is found that after repeated use there is significant loss of adhesion) .

Fig. 3 shows the holder after sheet 1A has been turned over by pivoting the sheet about the binding 2. Thus the back face of sheet 1A and the front face of sheet IB are visible in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows a multi¬ plicity of repositionable paper notes 3 (in this particular example Post-it (trade mark) notes) stuck to the back face of sheet 1A and the front face of sheet IB. Similarly, a multiplicity of repositionable notes 3 are stuck to the back face of sheet IB and the front face of sheet 1C (not shown) whilst the back face of sheet 1C is free of notes. In the particular example being described the notes are 50 mm wide and 37 mm deep. Two of the notes 3A and 3B shown on the front face of the sheet IB have smaller notes 4A and 4B respectively fixed thereto. Those notes may also be Post-it (trade mark) notes and can be referred to as tag notes. The tag notes may be of different colours.

Most of the notes shown in Fig. 3 do not overlap but three notes 3C, 3D and 3E are shown mounted in overlapp- ing relationship on sheet IB. In practice it would be advantageous to have many more overlapping notes.

Each note 3 has, on its face that rests on one of the sheets 1, an upper part 5 in the form of a strip to which adhesive has been applied. In Fig. 3 one of the notes referenced 3E is shown with a dotted line 6 which marks the boundary between the adhesive portion (above the line) and the portion free of adhesive (below the line) .

In the case of the overlapping notes 3C, 3D and 3E, the upper strip of each note, to which adhesive is applied is stuck directly to the carrier sheet and the remainder of each note (the major part) overlaps one or more of the other notes. Thus the notes are arranged with their adhesive strips lying alongside one another and in contact with respective adjacent regions of the carrier sheets. In the case of the top note 3C, the entire face of the note remains visible but in the case of the other notes, 3D and 3E, only a bottom portion of the note is visible. The holder and notes can be used in a very wide variety of ways; in the first instance one particular use will be described and thereafter some indication of different uses will be given.

In the particular case to be described the holder is used as a business organiser. In a similar manner to that in which a user might write on a single sheet of paper a list of tasks to be undertaken, so, in the described example of the invention, the user writes each task on a respective Post-it (trade mark) note. The notes are then arranged as follows: notes relating to tasks to be attended to that day are stuck to the back face of sheet 1A; notes relating to tasks to be attended to later are stuck to the front face of sheet IB and are positioned according to the nature of the task to be performed. In the example illustrated, the notes on the front face of sheet IB are arranged in three columns: the top half of the left hand column may for example comprise tasks to be carried out for a first client and the bottom half of the left hand column may for example comprise tasks to be carried out for a second client; the middle column may comprise tasks to be carried out for a variety of other clients and the right hand column may comprise administrative tasks and/or personal tasks to be carried out. On the rear face of sheet IB and the front face of sheet 1C other notes may be arranged.

The notes on sheets IB and 1C may be blank notes and it is especially advantageous if in at least some cases a stack of notes, comprising for example about five notes, is provided rather than a single note. In that way a substantial supply of blank notes can be provided within a limited area on the folder. At the same time, if each stack consists of no more than about five notes, the thickness of the stack remains small and can readily be accommodated between adjacent sheets IB and 1C of the folder. At present Post-it (trade mark) notes are commonly sold in stacks with each stack containing many more than five notes so that stacks of about five notes can readily be formed by removing about five notes at a time from a larger stack.

In use, notes are taken from the back of sheet 1A and the front of sheet IB and either replaced in some other position in the holder or thrown away. Fresh notes can be taken from the back of sheet IB and the front of sheet 1C whenever required and placed in the appropriate part of the holder. At regular or irregular intervals all the notes in the holder can be rearranged.

The surface of each sheet 1 is such that it can be written on and the writing can subsequently be wiped off. Thus it is possible to write headings of the various groups of notes and to change the headings when appropriate. The smaller notes 4A and 4B may also be used with or without writing to provide headings on the notes. The name of another person associated with a task may also be written on the note and notes may be grouped according to that name or they may be collected together from different parts of the holder and grouped on the rear face of sheet 1A when a meeting with the person takes place. The person's name may be written at the bottom of each note so that when two notes are overlapp¬ ing, as in the case of the notes 3C, 3D and 3E, the name can still be read. Other information on the note can be read simply by lifting up the bottom portions of the overlapping notes above the one to be read. Indeed, although in Fig. 3 only the notes 3C, 3D and 3E are shown overlapping, it will often be advantageous to arrange most of the notes on the front of sheet IB in such overlapping relationship so that a larger number of notes can be accommodated. In that way it is possible to accommodate of the order of 30 notes in a single column. In the example just given a person's name is used as a keyword at the bottom of the note but of course some other keyword can be used when appropriate. If desired, the word "keyword" can be preprinted at the bottom of the note in a corner and/or other preprinting can be included on the note, for example to designate different purposes for different areas of the note. Because of the overlapping relationship of the notes much of the information on them can be kept confidential whilst allowing selected information, which may act as a reminder, to be available. The holder may also be used for domestic purposes, for example to organize household jobs or solely to organize shopping. In the latter case each note may simply consist of goods to be purchased and one part of the holder may be given over to goods already purchased whilst another part is given over to goods required that day and another part to goods required less urgently and/or not at all. In that way the holder provides a basic form of stock control. Some notes may be of a confidential nature and in that case especially it may be desirable to have two or more of the sheets lockable together so that notes secured to either of the abutting faces of the locked sheets cannot be seen. A tamper evident lock may be provided, if desired.

The sheets may be adapted to reduce the possibility of any notes falling out of the holder. For example some kind of seal, such as a magnetic strip, may be provided around the edges of abutting faces of the sheet. Instead of using blank notes, it is possible to use pre-printed notes. The printing may contain a heading such as "Personal" or "Today", and may be provided at either the top or the bottom of a note. As will be understood, when notes are arranged in the manner shown for the notes 3C, 3D and 3E in Fig. 3, then it is the bottom portion of each note that is visible and it may therefore be preferable to have printing on the bottom and/or to have a line defining the boundary of the bottom portion of each note. Different colours of notes may also be used to signify different categories of matters. Although in the drawing there are only three columns of notes shown on each page, it is possible to have four such columns if either the notes are slightly reduced in width or the sheets 1 are slightly increased in width. As has already been mentioned, it is possible to have of the order of 30 notes in each column on a page and thus about 120 notes can be accommodated on a single page. 120 notes provide an area of over 2,200 cm² which is many times the area of an A4 sheet. Thus the holder enables a great deal of written information to be stored in a limited area and yet be easily retrieved. In addition to or instead of arranging notes in the manner of the notes 3C, 3D and 3E shown in Fig. 3 in order to increase the writing area that can be accom¬ modated, other forms of note may be used as will now be described. Figs. 4a and 4b show a note 7 which consists of a plurality of portions 7A to 7E folded along fold lines 8 in concertina fashion one on top of another. Fig. 4a shows the note in the almost fully folded condition and Fig. 4b shows the note fully unfolded. The note 7, when fully unfolded, provides a writing area five times as great as the area it occupies when folded. That area is further increased if a person chooses to write on the back of portions 7B to 7E. Furthermore adjacent notes 7 may be arranged overlapping one another as shown for the notes 3C, 3D and 3E in Fig. 3. The portion 7A of the note 7 is of the same form as the notes 3 already described except that the portion 7B is joined to it. If desired, the portion 7A may be deeper than the portions 7B to 7E so that the top of the note is only one sheet thick even when the note is folded; in that case one note can be stacked on top of another in the same way as conventional notes.

Figs. 5a and 5b show a note which consists of a plurality of portions 9A to 9E. There is a central portion 9A which is of the same form as the notes 3 already described except that each edge of the portion 9A is joined to a respective one of the portions 9B to 9E along a respective fold line 10. Fig. 5a shows the note 9 in the almost fully folded condition and Fig. 5b shows the note fully unfolded. The note 9, when fully unfolded, provides a writing area five times as great as the area it occupies when folded. That area is further increased if a person chooses to write on the back of the portions 9B to 9E. If desired, other portions such as that shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5b and referenced 9F can be added to increase further the writing area. Also, it is possible for a single one of the portions 9B to 9F to comprise a plurality of portions folded in concertina fashion.

In the embodiments of Figs. 4a and 4b and Figs. 5a and 5b the portions 7B to 7E and 9B to 9E are entirely free of adhesive. As an alternative arrangement, however, some or all of those portions may have regions to which adhesive has been applied so as to retain the notes in the folded condition but allow them to be unfolded. For example in the embodiment of Figs. 5a and 5b there may be a band of adhesive along the bottom of the front face of portions 7B and 7D and along the bottom of the back face of portion 7E. Bands of adhesive may be used in a similar way to retain the portions 9B to 9E of the note 9. There are other ways in which the writing area of a note may be increased. One other possibility is to provide the note in the form of a scroll with an adhesive band along the top edge of the note. The scroll is then unwound to reveal its full area and will wind itself up automatically when released. Another possibility is to have several notes preformed as a stack and permanently joined to one another in a corner, for example, the left hand top corner. The bottom note only of the stack is provided with adhesive as for a conventional note. Each of the notes can then be written upon or read by lifting the notes above.

The holder may be formed with or associated with another item of stationery. For example, a pad of paper and/or a pen may be mounted on the holder. Reference has already been made to the possibility of writing on the sheets 1A to 1C. It is of course also possible for the sheets to be pre-printed. Another possibility which makes the holder especially adaptable to different uses is to provide additional pre-printed sheets which may occupy a small part, a substantial part or even the whole of one face of one of the sheets 1A to IC and which has an adhesive backing enabling it to be fixed to one of the sheets 1A to IC either permanently or releasably. At least the front face of such a pre¬ printed sheet is preferably such that notes can be repositioned a multiplicity of times with no substantial loss of adhesion.

Claims

Claims :

1. A method of arranging in a holder a multi¬ plicity of repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto, the holder including a plurality of carrier sheets fastened together along one edge of the holder, each carrier sheet having at least one face suitable for receiving a multiplicity of said repositionable notes, the method including writing respective matters on each of the repositionable notes, applying each note to a respective carrier sheet or a respective region of a face of a respective carrier sheet, taking a note from one position in the holder and replacing it in another position in the holder, and repeating the taking and replacing steps a multiplicity of times.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which each repositionable note has adhesive applied to part only of one face of the note.

3. A method according to claim 2, in which each repositionable note has a strip of adhesive applied thereto adjacent to one edge of the note.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3 , in which at least some of the replacing steps comprise replacing a note with its adhesive in contact with the carrier sheet and with a major part of the note overlapping another note fixed to the carrier sheet.

5. A method according to claim 4 when dependent upon claim 3 , in which overlapping notes are arranged on the carrier sheet with their adhesive strips lying alongside one another.

6. A method according to any preceding claim, in which the notes are positioned in the holder in a plurality of groups, at least most groups comprising a multiplicity of notes.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, in which there are more than 50 notes positioned on the carrier sheets.

8. A method according to any preceding claim, in which the carrier sheets are fastened together by a binding.

9. A method according to any preceding claim, in which there are three carrier sheets.

10. A method according to any preceding claim, in which each carrier sheet is so rigid that when supported only along the fastened edge it remains in substantially a single plane, the carrier sheets being pivotable about their fastened edges.

11. A method according to any preceding claim, in which at least the surface of each carrier sheet is made of a material which is not affected by and does not affect the adhesive on the notes, whereby the notes may be repositioned a multiplicity of times without any substantial loss of adhesion.

12. A method according to claim 11, in which the material is a plastics material.

13. A method according to any preceding claim, in which at least one of the carrier sheets carries a plurality of stacks of notes, each stack comprising at least three notes.

14. A method according to any preceding claim, in which there is a carrier sheet carrying more than 30 notes, each of which is directly and repositionably mounted on the sheet.

15. A method according to any preceding claim in which at least one of the repositionable notes comprises a note folded in concertina fashion.

16. A holder for arranging a multiplicity of repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto, the holder including a plurality of carrier sheets fastened together, each carrier sheet having at least one face suitable for receiving a multiplicity of said reposition- able notes, whereby a multiplicity of notes can be applied to the plurality of carrier sheets and transferred by a user from one carrier sheet to another or from one region of one carrier sheet to another region of the same sheet.

17. A holder according to claim 16, in which each carrier sheet is so rigid that when supported only along the fastened edge it remains in substantially a single plane, the carrier sheets being pivotable about their fastened edges.

18. A holder according to claim 16 or 17 and a multiplicity of repositionable notes having adhesive applied thereto and releasably and repeatedly fixable to said at least one face of each carrier sheet.

19. A holder according to claim 18, in which each repositionable note has adhesive applied to part only of one face of the note and at least some of the notes are each positioned with the adhesive of the note in contact with the carrier sheet and with a major part of the note overlapping another note fixed to the carrier sheet.

20. A holder according to claim 19, in which each repositionable note has a strip of adhesive applied thereto adjacent to one edge of the note and overlapping notes are arranged on the carrier sheet with their adhesive strips lying alongside one another.

21. A repositionable note formed as a multiplicity of portions folded on top of one another, the multi- plicity of portions comprising a base portion to at least a part of the back of which adhesive is applied to enable the base portion to be taken from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times, and other portions directly or indirectly connected to one or more edges of the base portion and overlying the base portion in the folded condition of the note.

22. A repositionable note according to claim 21, in which the multiplicity of portions are folded on top of one another in concertina fashion.

23. A repositionable note according to claim 22, in which the portions are connected to each other exclusively along top and bottom edges.

24. A repositionable note according to claim 21, in which respective ones of said other portions are connected to different edges of the base portion.

25. A repositionable note formed as a multiplicity of portions stacked on top of one another and permanently fastened to one another at a corner or along one edge, at least a part of the back of the bottom one of the portions having adhesive applied thereto to enable the base portion to be detached from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times.

26. A repositionable note formed as a scroll which can be unwound to a substantially planar configuration and which when released automatically winds up with adhesive applied to a face of the note at one end to enable the note to be detached from and replaced on a carrier sheet a multiplicity of times.

27. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, employing one or more repositionable notes according to any one of claims 21 to 26.

28. A holder according to claim 18, employing one or more repositionable notes according to any one of claims 21 to 26.