Notepad system for holding and dispensing various sized notepads

• US 7,654,577 B2
• Filed: 11/23/2005
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ACCO Brands Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Meadwestvaco (WestRock Company)
• Inventors: Glosh, Amy Elizabeth, Broering, Jill Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Ross; Dana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Battula; Pradeep C
• Application Number:
  US11/286,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20070114781A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,532 Days
• Field of Search: 434/108, 402/70, 402/4, 402/73, 283/38, 283/83, 281/15.1, 281/37, 281/29, 281/31, 281/44, 281/51
• US Class Current: 281/44
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 5/006 combined with auxiliary devices
• CPC Class Codes: B42F 7/06 Filing appliances comprising a plurality of pockets or compartments, e.g. portfolios or cases with a plurality of compartments indexing features B42F21/00

Abstract

A notepad system includes a piece of generally flat backing material, and a plurality of generally rectangular notepads removably mounted to the piece of backing material. The plurality of notepads are located immediately adjacent to each other and define a recognizable shape.

Claims

1. A notepad system comprising:

a piece of generally flat backing material; and

a plurality of generally rectangular notepads removably mounted to said piece of backing material, said plurality of notepads being arranged in a generally planar side-by-side configuration and located immediately adjacent to each other to define a rectangle having an outer perimeter, and

wherein outer-most edges of outer-most ones of said notepads generally define said outer perimeter of said rectangle, and

wherein an outer-most edge of each outer-most notepad is generally aligned with an outer-most edge of an adjacent outer-most notepad such that said outer perimeter is generally straight and continuous, and

wherein each notepad is generally equally spaced from each adjacent notepad, and

wherein each notepad is spaced apart a uniform distance of less than 1/10 of an inch from any adjacent notepad, and

wherein said rectangle covers substantially all the surface area of said piece of backing material, and

wherein each notepad has a piece of notepad backing material having at least one of a stiffness or a thickness that is greater than each sheet of the associated notepad, and

wherein said piece of backing material includes a plurality of slits formed therein, and wherein the notepad backing of each notepad is receivable through one of said slits to removably mount each notepad to said piece of backing material.

2. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein at least two of said notepads have a different size and shape.

3. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein at least two of said notepads have generally the same size and shape.

4. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of notepads includes at least three notepads.

5. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of notepads includes at least five notepads.

6. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein each notepad has at least two outer edges, each of the two outer edges being aligned with an outer edge of at least one adjacent notepad.

7. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein said piece of backing material has a size and shape generally corresponding to said plurality of notepads.

8. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein each notepad includes a plurality of sheets, each of which has an adhesive located on an underside thereof.

9. The notepad system of claim 1 further comprising a supplemental piece of generally flat backing material having about the same size and shape as said piece of backing material, and wherein said supplemental piece of backing material is pivotally coupled to said piece of backing material and movable to a closed position wherein said plurality of notepads are located generally between said piece of backing material and said supplemental piece of backing material.

10. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein said piece of backing material is a two-ply material, and wherein each slit is a cut formed through one ply of said two-ply material.

11. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein at least one slit is configured to receive a notepad backing of two notepads therethrough to removably mount said two notepads to said piece of backing material in a side-by-side configuration.

12. The notepad system of claim 1 wherein one of said plurality of notepads has a width about double the width of another one of said notepads.

13. A notepad system comprising:

a piece of generally flat backing material; and

a plurality of generally rectangular notepads removably mounted to said piece of backing material, said plurality of notepads being arranged in a generally planar side-by-side configuration and located immediately adjacent to each other to define a rectangle having an outer perimeter, and

wherein outer-most edges of outer-most ones of said notepads generally define said outer perimeter of said rectangle, and

wherein an outer-most edge of each outer-most notepad is generally aligned with an outer-most edge of an adjacent outer-most notepad such that said outer perimeter is generally straight and continuous, and

wherein each notepad is generally equally spaced from each adjacent notepad, and

wherein each notepad is spaced apart a uniform distance of less than 1/10 of an inch from any adjacent notepad, and

wherein said rectangle covers substantially all the surface area of said piece of backing material, and

wherein said piece of backing material is configured to removably receive a large notepad thereon such that said large notepad covers at least about 90% of a surface area of said piece of backing material, and

wherein said piece of backing material includes a mounting slit extending across at least about 90% of an outer dimension of said piece of backing material.

14. The notepad system of claim 13 further comprising said large notepad removably attachable to said piece of backing material, wherein said large notepad covers at least about 90% of a surface area of said piece of backing material.

15. A notepad system comprising:

a piece of generally flat backing material; and

a plurality of generally rectangular notepads removably mounted to said piece of backing material, said plurality of notepads being arranged in a generally planar side-by-side configuration and located immediately adjacent to each other to define a rectangle having an outer perimeter, and

wherein outer-most edges of outer-most ones of said notepads generally define said outer perimeter of said rectangle, and

wherein an outer-most edge of each outer-most notepad is generally aligned with an outer-most edge of an adjacent outer-most notepad such that said outer perimeter is generally straight and continuous, and

wherein each notepad is generally equally spaced from each adjacent notepad, and

wherein each notepad is spaced apart a uniform distance of less than 1/10 of an inch from any adjacent notepad, and

wherein said rectangle covers substantially all the surface area of said piece of backing material, and

wherein said plurality of notepads includes at least one inner notepad, and

wherein said at least one inner notepad is not one of said outer-most notepads and is located inside of, and entirely spaced away from, said outer perimeter of said rectangle formed by said plurality of notepads.

16. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein at least two of said notepads have a different size and shape.

17. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein at least two of said notepads have generally the same size and shape.

18. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein said plurality of notepads includes at least three notepads.

19. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein said plurality of notepads includes at least five notepads.

20. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein said piece of backing material has a size and shape generally corresponding to said plurality of notepads.

21. The notepad system of claim 15 wherein each notepad includes a plurality of sheets, each of which has an adhesive located on an underside thereof.

22. The notepad system of claim 15 further comprising a supplemental piece of generally flat backing material having about the same size and shape as said piece of backing material, and wherein said supplemental piece of backing material is pivotally coupled to said piece of backing material and movable to a closed position wherein said plurality of notepads are located generally between said piece of backing material and said supplemental piece of backing material.

23. A notepad system comprising:

a piece of generally flat backing material; and

a plurality of generally rectangular notepads removably mounted to said piece of backing material, said plurality of notepads being arranged in a generally planar side-by-side configuration and located immediately adjacent to each other to define a rectangle having an outer perimeter, and wherein outer-most edges of outer-most ones of said notepads generally define said outer perimeter of said rectangle, and wherein an outer-most edge of each outer-most notepad is generally aligned with an outer-most edge of an adjacent outer-most notepad such that said outer perimeter is generally straight and continuous, and wherein each notepad is generally equally spaced from each adjacent notepad, wherein said piece of backing material includes a slit positioned and configured to removably receive a large notepad thereon such that said large notepad covers at least about 90% of a surface area of said piece of backing material when said plurality of generally rectangular notepads are removed from said backing material.