Patent Application
20130140805
This disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for enabling attendees at a meeting to write information in such a manner that it is displayed to all attendees, and later conveniently retained for future reference.
In meetings and conferences, it is common for individuals to write information such as notes, numbers, drawings, etc. on a large surface, such as an erasable drawing board, or a large easel mounted pad, so that it can be seen by all present in the room. However, not all rooms in which meetings occur are equipped with such an erasable board, and it can be inconvenient to have to find and set up such equipment.
Moreover, if it is desired to memorialize information written on an erasable board during the meeting, it is necessary to separately make a hand copy, which is inconvenient and possibly impossible if the information has already been erased from the board. Erasable writing boards are available which incorporate a copier, but they are relatively expensive and not easily transportable.
In lieu of erasable boards, easel-mounted paper pads or flip charts can be used which enable the written-on sheets to be later removed and retained. In order to view the information that was previously written during the meeting, however, constant flipping of the sheets of the pad is necessary. This is often ineffective and cumbersome.
Easel pads are available which utilize a pad of paper sheets bound by a pressure sensitive adhesive. Only one side of such paper sheets can generally be used, and more importantly the sheets are limited in the type of surface to which they will adhere.
It would be desirable to enable information to be written and displayed during a meeting such that all of the information written can be viewed easily and economically, without limitations.
Described herein is a method and easel pad on which an attendee at a meeting can write information such as notes, comments, figures, etc. in a way that is visible to all attendees and which can be easily retained throughout the meeting. In practice, a user brings into the meeting room an easel pad comprised of a pad, e.g., stack, of electrostatic sheets. The easel pad further comprises a starter slit on each sheet of the pad of electrostatic sheets, and a cutter blade for accommodating easy handling, cutting and removal of a sheet from the pad.
The easel pad is placed on an easel. In one embodiment, the pad accommodates certain retainer prongs of the easel to better secure the pad to the easel. During the meeting or in preparation thereof, information is written on the pad of electrostatic sheets. When desired, one can tear off or rip off the top electrostatic sheet on which the information has been written, and simply apply the sheet to any surface, such as a wall or separate board, so that the sheet clings to the surface due to the electrostatic attraction. The removal of the electrostatic sheet from the pad is facilitated by a starter slit in the sheet, and the cutter blade on the pad. Everyone in the meeting can still view the sheet containing the written information, while new information is being discussed and written on the next electrostatic sheet of the easel pad.
Among other factors, it has been found that the easel pad facilitates discussion during a meeting by allowing one to easily remove an electrostatic sheet with written information on it and applying the sheet to a nearby wall or board, e.g., any vertical or horizontal surface including rounded columns, ceilings, or walls. Reference to the written information is thus easily made as the discussion continues and new information is written on the next sheet. Many such sheets can be applied to the wall or board, allowing all of the written information to be easily viewed during the entire meeting. Furthermore, the starter slit for each electrostatic sheet and the cutter blade on the easel pad permit easy handling and removal of the electrostatic sheets for uninterrupted discussion.
The easel pad comprises a pad, i.e., a stack or layers of sheets, of conventional electrostatic or electret film/paper. The pad of electrostatic film sheets can contain any number of sheets. The electrostatic sheets can cling to almost any surface, unlike pressure sensitive adhesive products. Therefore, the use of the electrostatic sheets offers many advantages and is nearly devoid of limitation.
The sheets are stacked and combined as a pad of sheets. Each sheet, however, has a starter slit to facilitate tearing of the sheet from the pad. The easel pad also comprises a cutter blade, which can be a conventional serrated metal strip that further facilitates an easy, clear removal of a sheet from the pad of sheets on the easel pad.
A preferred pad is shown in
The pad of individual electrostatic sheets 2 can comprise conventional electrostatic or electret film/paper sheets. The sheets can be written on with conventional writing tools, such as magic markers, crayons and dry erase markers. All colors of magic marker, or of any writing instrument, can be used. Permanent markers such as magic markers can be used when a permanent record is desired. Erasable markers, such as dry erase markers, can be used when eventual erasure is desired.
The pad can also have openings to accommodate retainer prongs or security prongs of the easel on which the easel pad is placed. In
The openings can be designed to fit with the prongs of a particular easel, in both size and shape. The meshing of the openings with the easel allows for secure placement of the pad, with little movement when writing. This allows for better writing of information on the pad of electrostatic sheets during the presentation and discussion in the meeting.
Referring to
If it becomes desirable during the meeting to write information in such a manner that it is displayed to all attendees, one can write on the electrostatic sheets of the easel pad using one or more writing tools, of any color. When it is desired to write information on a second sheet, the first sheet can be removed easily from the easel pad due to the starter slit 23 and cutter blade 24, with the sheet 30 applied to a vertical surface, e.g., nearby wall or board. The sheet 30 clings to the wall or separate board due to its electrostatic attraction. Thus, as more information is written on sheet 22, the information previously written on sheet 30 can still be viewed by the attendees at the meeting. As many sheets as desired can be torn/removed from the pad of electrostatic sheets 22 and applied to a vertical surface as sheet 30.
It will be appreciated that the above-described method and easel pad provide an economical and convenient way of enabling information to be displayed at a meeting and thereafter retained throughout the meeting. Use of the easel pad facilitates continuous and effective discussion, as the pad with its features accommodates such discussion without cumbersome interruption.
All patents and publications referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the extent not inconsistent herewith. It will be understood that certain of the above-described structures, functions, and operations of the above-described embodiments are not necessary to practice the present invention and are included in the description simply for completeness of an exemplary embodiment or embodiments. In addition, it will be understood that specific structures, functions, and operations set forth in the above-described referenced patents and publications can be practiced in conjunction with the present invention, but they are not essential to its practice. It is therefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described without actually departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/566,311 filed Dec. 2, 2011, entitled “Easel Pad with Electrostatic Sheets” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61566311 | Dec 2011 | US |
