NOTEBOOK WITH TWO-WAY POCKET

ORDINATEUR PORTATIF POURVU D'UNE CASE BILATERALE

English Abstract

A two-way pocket assembly for use with a notebook (100). The pocket assembly
is constructed over a window
(208) formed in a subsurface material of the notebook (100). The pocket
assembly includes exterior and interior pockets (104),
each covering at least a portion of the window (208). The exterior and
interior pockets (104) provide access to the pocket assembly
from either the exterior (102) or interior (204) of the notebook (100). The
pocket may be configured to receive and hold a personal
electronic assistant, a cellular telephone (302), or another personal
electronic device. The interior pocket includes a window material
that allows visual access to the interior (204) of the pocket assembly through
the material of the interior pocket (104). The pocket
may be constructed so that a personal electronic assistant held inside the
pocket assembly is usable through the window without
removing the device from the pocket assembly.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un ensemble case bilatérale destiné à un ordinateur portatif (100). L'ensemble case est construit sur une fenêtre (208) formée sur un matériau situé sous la surface de l'ordinateur portatif (100). L'ensemble case comprend des cases extérieures et intérieures (104), recouvrant chacune au moins une partie de la fenêtre (208). Ces cases extérieures et intérieures (104) permettent d'accéder à l'ensemble case, soit depuis l'extérieur (102), soit depuis l'intérieur (204) de l'ordinateur portatif (100). La case peut être conçue de manière qu'elle reçoive et contienne un agenda électronique, un téléphone cellulaire (302) ou un autre dispositif électronique personnel. La case intérieure comprend un matériau de fenêtre qui permet un accès visuel à l'intérieur (204) de l'ensemble case à travers le matériau de la case intérieure (104). La case peut être conçue de manière qu'un agenda électronique contenu dans l'ensemble case soit utilisable à travers la fenêtre sans enlever le dispositif de l'ensemble case.

Claims

CLAIMS
1. A notebook comprising:
a foldable cover having internal and exterior surfaces;
a rigid support sheet enclosed within said cover;
an opening in said support sheet;
an exterior pocket flap secured to the exterior surface of the cover and
covering at least
a part of said opening; and
an interior pocket flap secured to the interior surface of the cover, covering
at least a
portion of said opening and aligned with said interior pocket, thereby forming
a two-way
storage pocket such that a personal electronic assistant can be inserted or
removed from the
storage pocket formed between said exterior and interior pocket flaps from the
inside or the
outside of the notebook.
2. The notebook of claim 1, wherein at least one of said pocket flaps includes
a
cut-out section and one or more elastic panels that at least partially cover
the cut-out section.
3. The notebook of claim 1, wherein at least one of the exterior and interior
pocket flaps includes structure defining a window, said window allowing visual
access to a
personal electronic assistant device between the pockets.
4. The notebook of claim 3, wherein the window is made of transparent plastic.
5. The notebook of claim 3, wherein the window is made of mesh.
6. The notebook of claim 3 wherein the window is an opening.
7. The notebook of claim 3, wherein the window is configured and positioned so
that, when a personal electronic assistant is placed in the pocket assembly,
substantially the
entire display screen having a display screen visible through the visual
access window.
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8. The notebook of claim 3, wherein the window is configured and positioned so
that when a cellular telephone having number keys is inserted between said
pocket flaps, the
number keys are visible through said window.
9. The notebook of claim 1, wherein at least one of said pocket flaps is
attached
to the cover by one or more elastic strips.
10. The notebook of claim 1, further comprising a closure attached to one of
the
pocket flaps for holding the exterior pocket closed.
11. The notebook of claim 1, further comprising a hook and loop closure
attached
to one of the pocket flaps for holding the exterior pocket closed.
12. A notebook comprising:
a foldable cover having rectangular internal and external surfaces,
a rigid support sheet enclosed within said cover;
a rectangular opening in said support sheet;
an exterior pocket flap defining a channel;
a plurality of elastic panels by which the exterior pocket flap is secured to
the cover
in alignment with said opening;
an elastic panel secured within said channel so that the exterior pocket flap
can be
expanded;
an interior pocket flap secured to said cover in alignment with said opening
and said
exterior pocket flap, said interior pocket flap defining a window;
a pair of tabs attached to said interior pocket flap and a pair of hook and
loop fasteners
attached to said tabs by which said interior pocket flap can be tightened
against said cover;
and
a storage pocket being formed within said opening and between said pocket
flaps for
receiving a personal electronic assistant.
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Description

I ~ n il~ i~ i , il ii L".~ i m iI i
CA 02391573 2005-04-18
NOTEBOOK WITH TWO-WAY POCKET
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to notebooks and more particularly to
notebooks capable of carrying and protecting devices referred to here as
"personal electronic
assistants."
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is a practice of many people today to carry a notebook, such as a personal
organizer,
that contains information they require frequently for personal or business
reasons. This
information may include calendars, schedules, notes, addresses, telephone
numbers and a
wide variety of other information that the user prefers to have available in
hard copy form.
Many such persons are also in the habit of carrying some type of "personal
electronic
assistant," a term that is used here to include such portable electronic
devices as cellular
telephones, Palm Pilots' and other electronic organizers, beepers, e-mail
devices,
calculators and the like. To carry both an organizer and a personal electronic
assistant is
often inconvenient. One or more of these items can easily be lost, forgotten
or dropped. It is,
therefore, highly desirable to find a way to effectively combine these two
items into one,
while at the same time allowing them to be separated when it is advantageous
to do so. It is
also desirable that the notebook provide some measure of protection for the
personal
electronic assistant, which typically is subject to being damaged rather
easily. It is most
desirable that the personal electronic assistant be accessible whether the
notebook is closed or
open and that the personal electronic assistant be hidden from view when
contained within
the notebook.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The notebook of the present invention satisfies the above needs. The present
invention provides a notebook comprising: a foldable cover having internal and
exterior
surfaces; a rigid support sheet enclosed within said cover; an opening in said
support sheet;
an exterior pocket flap secured to the exterior surface of the cover and
covering at least a part
of said opening; and an interior pocket flap secured to the interior surface
of the cover,
covering at least a portion of said opening and aligned with said interior
pocket, thereby
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CA 02391573 2005-04-18
forming a two-way storage pocket such that a personal electronic assistant can
be inserted or
removed from the storage pocket formed between said exterior and interior
pocket flaps from
the inside or the outside of the notebook.
The present invention also provides a notebook comprising: a foldable cover
having
S rectangular internal and external surfaces, a rigid support sheet enclosed
within said cover; a
rectangular opening in said support sheet; an exterior pocket flap defining a
channel; a
plurality of elastic panels by which the exterior pocket flap is secured to
the cover in
alignment with said opening; an elastic panel secured within said channel so
that the exterior
pocket flap can be expanded; an interior pocket flap secured to said cover in
alignment with
said opening and said exterior pocket flap, said interior pocket flap defining
a window; a pair
of tabs attached to said tabs by which said interior pocket flap can be
tightened against said
cover; and a storage pocket being formed within said opening and between said
pocket flaps
for receiving a personal electronic assistant.
Elastic panels can be included to permit the pocket flaps to expand. A window
can be
provided in the interior flap to readily accept the personal electronic
assistant. A window
panel can be transparent or mesh or may be omitted entirely.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the front exterior surface of a notebook
that
embodies the present invention in a closed position.
FIG. 2 is an elevational view showing the interior of the notebook of FIG. 1,
with the
notebook in an open position.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cellular telephone or other personal
electronic
assistant that can be inserted and carried in a two-way pocket of the notebook
of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 shows the two-way pocket with a personal electronic device inserted in
it, as
viewed from the inside of the notebook of FIG. l, with the notebook in an open
position.
FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but shows the personal electronic assistant in the
process of
being inserted.
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CA 02391573 2005-04-18
FIG. 6 illustrates the insertion or removal of a pager into the two-way pocket
from the
inside of the notebook.
FIG. 7 illustrates the ability to clip a pager or other personal electronic
assistant onto
the front exterior surface of the notebook of FIG. 1.
FIG. 8 illustrates a pager clipped on to the front exterior surface of the
notebook.
FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a notebook having a "Y-shaped"
center cut-out that surrounds an elastic material.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
One preferred embodiment of the present invention is a notebook 100 with a two-
way
storage and receiving pocket 104 that permits, enables and facilitates the
retention of a
personal electronic assistant, such as a cell phone, pager, calculator,
beeper, e-mail device,
or electronic organizer. A front exterior surface 102, a front interior
surface 204, and a rear
interior surface 206 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Preferably, the notebook 100
also includes
a zipper or other fastener, such as hook and loop (VelcroTM) or a snap closure
(not shown)
located at the outside openable edge of the notebook, which allows the
notebook to be secured
in a closed position. The notebook 100 may also include such features as
openable binder
rings 270, a spiral or adhesive bound notepad, a pen loop 272, a stylus
holder, a business card
holder, a spare battery holder and a pocket for a pad of paper 274.
Structurally the notebook
100 includes a support sheet formed by a suitably stiff material such as chip-
board, cardboard,
hard plastic or laminated paper product, which is bound in and enclosed by an
attractive cover
made of leather, cloth, vinyl or plastic. The cover is foldable along a center
axis and thereby
closed, as shown in FIG. 1.
An opening 208 is provided in the support sheet and cover of the notebook 100,
centered on one side of the center axis of the cover, as shown in FIG. 2.
Preferably, this
opening 200 is formed by removing a large square or rectangular section of the
support sheet
before adding the cover. An exterior pocket f1ap104 is attached to the front
exterior surface
102 of the notebook 100 over the opening 200. Preferably, the pocket flap 104
is made of the
same material as the cover or a similar material, e.g., leather, vinyl,
plastic or fabric. The
pocket flap104 is firmly attached to the front exterior surface 102 of the
notebook along a
bottom edge 106, a fold edge 108, and a side edge 110. A top edge 112 of the
pocket flap is
left unattached and open to provide access to the interior of the storage
pocket behind the
pocket flap 104. The exterior pocket 104 may be integrally formed with the
cover, but the
use of a separately formed flap is advantageous. If desired, the top edge of
the pocket flap104
may be temporarily secured in a closed position by a hook and loop (VelcroTM),
snap or zipper
closure, or the like (not shown). There are two tabs 275, one extending from
each side of the
interior pocket flap 104. Hook and loop (VeIcroTM) fasteners on these tabs
allow them to be
secured to the interior cover surface, thus reducing the storage pocket volume
available behind
the flap 104.
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An exterior pocket flap 210 aligned with the opening 208 and the interior flap
104 has
a U-shaped center cutout 114 extending from the top edge 112 downwardly along
the
approximate center line of the flap (FIG. 1). It will be understood that the
shape of the cut-out
114 can be varied as desired and can take such shapes as a "Y" (shown in FIG.
9) a circle (not
shown) or an "S" (not shown). Attached to the exterior pocket flap 216 and
extending across
the U-shaped center cut-out 114 are one or more elastic panels or strips 116.
It will be
understood that the term "elastic" as used herein refers to any suitably
resilient, stretchable
material such as lycra, nylon, and other types of rubberized fabrics. The
elastic panels 116
are firmly stitched, glued, or otherwise attached to the pocket flap 210 along
the U-shaped
center cutout 114, but are not attached to the front exterior surface 102 of
the notebook 100,
thus allowing access to the interior of the storage pocket via the top edge
112 of the exterior
pocket flap 210. The panel or panels 116 make the storage pocket expandable
and help to
secure the contents thereof. This allows the a user of the notebook to insert
items which are
larger and bulkier than, for example, papers and which would not be insertable
in a non-
gusseted pocket of the same size without elastic panels.
A user of the notebook 100 can thus insert a cell phone 302 or other personal
electronic assistant (shown in FIG. 3) into the storage pocket via the top
edge 112, the storage
pocket being appropriately sized for this use. When the cell phone is thus
inserted, the elastic
panels 116 stretch and the storage pocket 250 expands, allowing the cell phone
302 to be
securely held in place. Additionally, the cell phone 302 is not visible when
the notebook 100
is closed. If the article stored in the pocket is not too large, it will not
be visible, or at least
it will not be prominent when the notebook 100 is closed, as in FIG. 1.
With further reference to FIG. 2, when the notebook 100 is open and the front
interior
surface 204 is visible, the back side of the pocket flap 210 and the elastic
panels 116 are
visible through a window 208. Attached to the front interior surface 204 of
the binder and
covering all or a portion of the window 208 is a transparent panel 211 that
forms part of the
interior pocket flap 104. The window panel 208 can be made of any suitable
transparent
flexible plastic, or it can be made of mesh. The transparent panel 211 is
firmly sewn, glued
or otherwise attached to elastic strips 212 on the bottom edge 214, inside
edge 216, and
outside edge 218 of the interior pocket flap 104. In turn, the elastic strips
212 are firmly sewn
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or otherwise attached to three sides of either the front interior surface 204
and/or the pocket
104. Alternatively, the window 208 can be an opening, with no transparent
panel 211.
Preferably, the elastic strips 212 are configured so that they cause the
transparent panel 211
to conform generally to the shape of and securely hold a personal electronic
assistant.
With reference to FIG. 4, when a cell phone 302 or other personal electronic
assistant
is inserted into the storage pocket 250 from the front exterior surface 102 of
the notebook
100, it is visible and accessible from the front interior surface 204. Because
the interior
pocket flap 104 is secured by the action of the elastic strips 212, the cell
phone 302 will be
firmly held in the storage pocket and can be seen through the transparent
panel 211. The
transparent panel 211 thus allows users of personal electronic assistants such
as Palm
Pilots,TM other handheld computers, and other electronic devices to see and
use their video
input/output screens and to access, for example, buttons of the cell phone
302, when the
phone is secured in the storage pocket 250.
In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the
elastic
panels 116 are arranged such that they form an elongated opening or channel
118. The edges
of the channel 118 are preferably reinforced by stitching or fabric to provide
added strength
to the elastic panels in that area. A small electronic device which is
equipped with a clip, such
as a pager 602, can be inserted into the storage pocket 250. Because such
small items may
tend to shift as the notebook 100 is moved and/or carried, these items may be
secured by a clip
that commonly forms a part of such devices through the channel 118.
Accordingly, these
devices are secured within the storage pocket 250 both by the action of the
elastic, which
tightens the pocket around the pager 602, and by the clip. It should be
understood that the
channel is optional, and need not be included. With reference to FIG. 7, it
will also be
understood that a pager 602 stored in the pocket can be secured to the front
exterior surface
by inserting the clip in the channel 118. The pager 602 will then be firmly
secured to the front
of the binder as shown in FIG. 8.
It is intended here to describe a preferred embodiment of the present
invention. It will
be understood that certain modifications and variations can be made without
departing from
the scope of the present invention. For instance, alternate embodiments of the
present
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invention may be either larger or smaller in scale than the embodiment shown,
may include
more than one two-way pocket or additional organizational tools with the
binder, may have
multiple U-shaped cutouts, Y-shaped cut-outs (FTG. 9), larger elastic panels
or multiple elastic
panels. The two-way pocket may also be oriented to face the side, rather than
the top of a
notebook.
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Representative Drawing