Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02356744 2001-09-05
DRAWABI,E AND/OR TRACEABLE CARRIERS
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to personalized binders, or albums, and fabric covered
carvers.
Back; round of the Invention
It has previously been proposed to make three ring binders, for example, with
transparent pockets on the cover thereof into which personal visual material
may be
inserted. Examples of this type of binder are shown in U.S. Pat. No.
5,857,797, granted
January 12, 1999; U.S. Patent Des. No. 417,890, granted December 21, 1999; and
U.S.
1 ~ Patent Des. No. 421,460, granted March 7, 2000.
However, in addition to personal visual material, such as photographs, or the
lilce,
it would be desirable to be able to add permanent ink images or writing onto
the binder
covers; and this has not been practical up to the present because the plastic
binder covers
will not accept all types of ink, some inks will wipe off, and high humidity
or moisture
will often cause the inl: to run or spread. A similar problem involves photo
albums and
the transparent sheet material overlyilig the photographs, as this sheet
material does not
readily accept applied inlc indicia. Regarding fabric covered binders,
baclcpaclcs or other
carriers, it has normally not been practical to draw with inli onto such
fabric covered
binders or carriers, as tile inic is absorbed into the fabric.
Summan~ of the Invention
In accordance with one specific illustrative embodiment of the invention, a
binder
is provided with a transparent plastic sheet over the binder cover, in the
form of a pocket
into which visual material may be inserted, and the transparent sheet is
provided with an
inlc receptive coating or layer receptive to solvent based inlc, aqueous ink
or Qel based
ink, and which is substantially water-fast following drying of the applied
inlc. This
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construction permits users to write or draw on the binder or to trace visual
material which
is inserted into the pocket. In addition, the user may insert visual material
into the
pocket, and add written or pictorial images to the visual material, to provide
a composite
image on a personalized binder.
From a broader perspective, an assembly for holding papers and having front
and
rear covers may be provided with a coating or layer, which is receptive to
aqueous,
solvent based or gel inks, and which is substantially water-fast following
drying of the
ink. The user may then draw on the cover with any type of pen and personalize
the
binder with any desired printing or images. The coating may be on the inside
and/or
outside of either or both covers. In the case of dark fabric covered three
ring binders, for
example, the coating will permit ink personalization of the binders where an
uncoated
fabric covered binder would merely absorb the ink with little residual image.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, fabric covered carriers,
such
as cloth covered binders. or backpacks often used to carry books or binders
with stacks of
sheets of paper or pages may be specially coated with special ink receptive
coatings
which are also substantially water fast following drying. Subsequently the
products may
be personalized by drawing or writing on them with pen and ink.
In addition, the covers and pages of photo albums may be provided with ink
receptive coatings for personalization of the covers and individual photos.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent
from a consideration of the associated drawings and from the following
detailed
description.
Frief Descriptions of the Drawings
Fig. 1 shows a three ring binder with a transparent poclcet on the cover
thereof and
a visual insert for the pocket;
Fig. ? shows the binder of Fig. 1 with the visual insert in the pocket, and
with the
user tracing a portion of the insert onto a special ink receptive layer or
coating on the
outer surface of the pocket;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. ? showing the
binder
cover, the pocket, the insert, and the outer inlc receptive layer;
CA 02356744 2001-09-05
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a personalized cloth covered ring binder
illustrating
one aspect of the invention;
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view through one cover of the ring binder of Fig.
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showing drawing with a pen on the coated cover with an ink pen;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a backpack illustrating one aspect of the
invention;
and
Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view through one of the walls of the backpack of
Fig. 6.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a three ring binder
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having a front cover 14, a rear cover 16, and a spine 18, with a ring assembly
20 mounted
on the spine 18 to receive papers. Secured to the front cover 14 is a
transparent or
translucent plastic sheet 22, provided with an outer ink receptive coating as
discussed
below. The sheet 22 is secured to the front cover 14 at the right hand edge
24, at the
1 ~ bottom 26, and optionally at the left hand edge 28 near the spine 18. The
sheet 22 is open
at the top edge 30 of the front cover of the binder, to provide a pocket into
which visual
material 32 may be inserted.
Fig. 2 shows the visual material within the pocket formed by the plastic sheet
22,
on the front cover 14 of the binder. The user is using a pen 34 to trace a
portion of the
image from the visual material onto a special layer or coating on sheet 22 on
the cover of
the binder.
Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a portion of the front cover 14
of the
binder, taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2. In Fig. 3, the front cover 14 includes
an inner fairly
stiff base member 42, covering layers 44 and 46, which may be formed of
plastic or
2~ cloth, for examples, and the visual insert 32. The transparent or
translucent plastic sheet
22 which forms the poclcet, has an outer ink receptive coating or layer 48.
Inli 50 Which
has just been applied to the coating is shown at several points on and in the
layer 48.
Concerning the layer 48 which is receptive to aqueous, solvent based and gel
based ink, the ink is also substantially water-fast once it has dried. One
coating which
has been successfully employed is disclosed in PCT Publication Number WO
99/04981,
entitled "inls Receptive Coatings and Coated Products." This coating includes
a. pigment
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disposed in or mixed with a binder which may be an ethylene-vinyl acetate
emulsion
polymer and a water soluble cationic polymer. Other combinations of
hydrophobic and
water soluble materials may be used. The foregoing coating may be translucent,
permitting tracing through the coating and with very finely divided pigments
it may be
virtually transparent. Other coatings which are receptive to all three types
of ink and
which are substantially water-fast are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,613,52,
granted
September 23, 1986; European Patent Application No. 0 199 874, published
November 5,
1986; PCT Publication No. WO 97/01448, published January 16, 1997; European
Patent
Specification EP 0 6~5 346 B1, published May 31, 1995; and PCT Publication No.
WO 96/18496, published June 20, 1996. These references generally relate to
coatings for
use with sheets used with inlc jet printers, with the ink jet printers
applying the water
based inl: to individual sheets of coated paper which may be fed one by one
through the
printers.
Concerning the coating, it advantageously includes a porous pigment such as
1 ~ silica gel, in a binder which permits penetration by water based inlc, gel
inks, or solvent
based inla. In order to permit penetration by the inlc, the coating may have
the particulate
material in substantial quantity such that at least some of the pigment or
particulate
material is at or immediately adjacent the surface of the coating. The coating
may
include as components both hydrophobic material and a water soluble polymer.
The
water soluble polymer may be present in a significant amount such as ~% to 50%
of the
binder. When a water soluble polymer is employed, it is believed that the ink
is absorbed
into the coating via the soluble polymer and penetrates the pores of the
pigment, thus
producing a clear image wherein the carrier for the ink (water, gel or
solvent) brings the
irlh color to penetrate the pores of the finely divided pigment of the
coating.
Another coating binder which has been successfully employed is available from
Rafn and Swanson of Boston, Massachusetts under the designation AC-491.
Particulate
material such as carbon black, talc, calcium oxide or silica is added to the
binder. It is
understood that this material may include a substantial or a major proportion
of a an
acrylic polymer which is hydrophobic such as acrylonitrile.
The transparent or translucent sheet 22 may be secured at three edges to the
cover
I4 of the binder and may be open at the top at edge 30, for example, or
adjacent to the
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spine. If desired, the transparent plastic material and associated, ink
receptive layer may
be provided at the spine 18 and on the rear cover 16, as shown in Fig. 1 of
the drawings.
This can involve three separate pockets each open only at the top, a pocket
extending
over the front cover and the spine and secured to the binder at the baclc of
the spine, or
one big pocket secured to the binder only along the lower edge of the binder
and at the
edges of the front and rear covers away from the binder spine.
In the foregoing detailed description and in the accompanying drawings, a
three
ring binder was shown which had a transparent or translucent pocket on the
front cover
thereof. In some cases, using the preferred coating disclosed in PCT
Publication No.
99/04981, the coated film may be translucent and not fully transparent.
However, with
the visual material in the pocket and directly adjacent to the coated film, it
is clear
enough to be easily traceable. Further, by using very fine pigment particles,
the
transparency of the coating may be increased.
Referring now to Figs 4 and 5 of the drawings, they show a cloth covered three
ring binder 52 with first and second covers 54 and 56. Either or both of the
covers 54 and
56 may be provided with the central stiff sheet member 58 covered with cloth
60. One or
both of the fabric or cloth layers 60 may be provided with an additional layer
62 of
material as discussed above which is receptive to water based inli, solvent
based inl:, or
gel ink, and which is substantially water fast. In Fig. 5, the inlc 64 is
shown being applied
to the layer 62 by the pen 66. The images 68 shown in Fig. 4, which have been
drawn by
the pen 66, serve to personalize the noteboolc 52 and malce it uniquely
identifiable as well
as expressive of the personality of the owner.
Referring now to Fig. 6 of the drawings it shows a backpack 72, including a
main
storage compartment 74, and straps 76 for holding the backpack over the
shoulders of the
user. The main storage compartment 74 may be provided with a zipper 78
permitting
access to the main storage area. A supplemental compartment 80 may be provided
which
is sized to closely receive a zippered three ring binder 82. An additional
smaller
compartment 84 may also be provided for receiving small objects such as pens,
pencils,
keys or the lilce. The zipper 86 gives access to compartment 84.
The entire backpack 72 or only selected access such as the outwardly facing
frontage of compartment 84 may be coated with one of the inlc-receptive,
substantially
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water fast coatings as identified hereinabove. Personalized indicia such as
signatures or
symbols may be applied by pen and ink onto the coated areas of the backpack as
indicated at reference numeral 88 in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 is a schematic cross-
sectional view
through one area of the outer fabric of the backpack 72 shown in Fia. 6 of the
drawings.
More specifically, the fabric 9? has an outer coating 94 applied thereto, with
the coating
being of the inlc receptive, substantially water fast type as identified
hereinabove. Ink
writing or drawing is shown at reference numeral 96, with the ink being
applied by the
pen 98.
Another earner to which the inlL receptive coating may be applied is a pencil
pouch. The pencil pouch would have three reinforced holes for securing in a
three ring
binder and would be a separate fabric material pocket or pouch with a zipper
or a hook-
and-loop type closure for permitting access to the pencils, pens or other
small objects
within the pencil pouch. The ink receptive coating could be on both or only
one side of
the pencil pouch.
1 ~ It is further noted that, instead of three ring binders, the present
invention is
applicable to other binders for holding papers, such as binders with multiple
rings or
other arrangements for holding papers, including albums, folders, portfolios,
multiple
layer sheet protectors or report covers; and these may be provided with the
additional
pocket for receiving papers to be traced or displayed as discussed hereinabove
for the
?0 three ring binder embodiment. Also, the coating may be applied to fabric
covered
binders or to plastic covered binders without a transparent cover pocket.
Relative to
fabric covered binders, inks applied by pen would normally be absorbed into
the fabric
and would not stand out prominently; however following coating, any desired
image may
be applied using solvent based ink, water based ink or gel pens, and the image
is clear
?5 and prominent on the coated surface of the fabric binders. By coating
backpacks or dark
binders, either cloth covered or plastic covered, images may be penned onto
the coatings
using pastel inks and/or metallic gel inks, to provide a bright and colorful
display. The
inside surface of binder covers may also be coated, and provided with
transparent or
translucent inner pockets subject to pen and inl: tracing and drawing. It is
also noted that
30 the ii~lc receptive layer may be initially embodied in a separate sheet
which is laminated
to the transparent or translucent sheet 30 as shown in Figs. 1-3 of the
drawings. It is
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further noted that the sheet 30 may be formed of vinyl, polypropylene, or any
other
suitable plastic. Also, the particulate material may be in the form of colored
pigments, of
any desired color, or white, or black. In addition, the front cover may be
formed of a
fairly heavy gauge plastic instead of the three layers 42, 44, and 46 as shown
in Fig. 3 of
S the drawings. It is also noted that the carriers may be opened and securely
closed using
Velcro-type hoolc and loop fasteners, snaps or clips, for example.
Accordingly, the
present invention is not limited to the precise embodiment shown in the
drawings and
described in detail hereinabove.
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