ASSEMBLY FOR DISPENSING FULL ADHESIVE NOTES

Abstract

An assembly for dispensing full adhesive notes comprising: a pad comprising a plurality of full adhesive notes arranged in a dispensing stack; and a retention surface comprising a mounting face and adjacent recessed portion; wherein the adhesive on the bottommost note is adhered to the mounting face and portions of the note extend beyond the mounting face.

Claims

1. An assembly for dispensing full adhesive notes comprising: a pad comprising a plurality of full adhesive notes arranged in a dispensing stack, the full adhesive notes each comprising a sheet having a front face and a back face and having adhesive on at least a portion of the back face of the sheet; and a dispenser comprising a retention feature adapted to receive and secure the pad, the retention feature comprising a pillar having an mounting face surrounded by a recessed portion; wherein adhesive on the bottom most note is adhered to the mounting face, the surface area of adhesive portion of the back face of the sheet is greater than the surface area of the mounting face, and the geometric center of the adhesive portion of the back face of the sheet is aligned over the mounting face such that portions of the note extend beyond the mounting face on the entire perimeter of the mounting face.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the sheets comprise paper.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the adhesive covers the majority of the back face of the sheet.

4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the adhesive covers at least about 75 percent of the area of the back face of the sheet.

5. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the adhesive covers at least about 85 percent of the area of the back face of the sheet.

6. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the notes have an aspect ratio of from about 2:1 to about 1:2.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the notes are substantially rectangular in shape.

8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the surface area of the mounting face is equal to from about 15 percent to about 40 percent of the surface area of the adhesive portion of the notes.

9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the surface area of the mounting face is equal to from about 20 percent to about 30 percent of the surface area of the adhesive portion of the notes.

10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the dimensions of the mounting face are about 1.5 inches1.5 inches (3.8 cm by 3.8 cm) and the dimensions of the sheets are about 3 inches by 3 inches ((7.7 cm by 7.7 cm).

11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the height of the mounting face is about 0.03 inch (0.8 mm) above the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes.

12. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the height of the mounting face is about 0.06 inch (1.5 mm) above the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes.

13. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the height of the mounting face is about 0.12 inch (3 mm) above the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes.

14. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the retention feature comprises one or more peripheral wall segments.

15. The assembly of claim 14 wherein at least part of the one or more peripheral wall segments extends to a height at least as high above the mounting face as the thickness of the pad

16. The assembly of claim 15 wherein at least one of the one or more peripheral wall segments is profiled to have a relatively shorter height at some portion and relatively taller height at another portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The invention is further explained with reference to the drawing wherein:

[0013] FIG. 1A is a cross section of an illustrative pad of an assembly of the invention;

[0014] FIG. 1B is a plan view of the bottom face of the pad shown in FIG. 1A;

[0015] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a portion of an illustrative dispenser of an assembly of the invention;

[0016] FIG. 2B is a cross section of a portion of the dispenser shown in FIG. 2A with a pad mounted therein;

[0017] FIG. 3A is a plan view of a portion of the retention feature of another illustrative dispenser of an assembly of the invention;

[0018] FIG. 3B is a cross section of a portion of the retention feature shown in FIG. 3A; and

[0019] FIG. 4 is a plan view of an illustrative embodiment of an assembly of the invention.

[0020] These figures are not to scale and are intended to be merely illustrative and not limiting. Like reference numbers are used for like features. To facilitate understanding of this description, orientation of each Fig. in a common x-y-z orientation system is shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Notes/Pad

[0021] The invention provides an assembly for dispensing full adhesive notes from a pad in which a plurality of such notes are stacked. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a typical pad 10 comprises a plurality of notes 12, each comprising a sheet 13. Each note has a front face 15 and back face 14. A major portion 16 of back face 14 of the note has adhesive 17 thereon.

[0022] Notes in a pad are typically of the same configuration (e.g., size, shape, and adhesive location) and comprise the same component materials. Notes in a pad are stacked one atop another successively, with the adhesive-bearing back face of a note (i.e., referred to as an overlying note) releasably adhered to the front face of the next note in the pad (i.e., referred to as an underlying note). Pads comprise a selected number of notes, commonly from about 20 to about 30 notes in commercial full adhesive note pads, though pads with other numbers of notes may be used if desired.

[0023] Typically, at least one portion 18 of the back face is free of adhesive to facilitate separation of individual sheets from the pad. In this embodiment, non-adhesive portion 18 is in the shape of a stripe extending along an entire edge of the note. To facilitate orientation of the pad for use, release corners 20, 22 corresponding to non-adhesive portion 18 are optionally rounded while opposing corners 24, 26 are squared off. In other embodiments if desired, the non-adhesive portions may be configured in other ways, for instance, at one or more corners or edges of the notes in the pad.

[0024] For instance, one illustrative commercial embodiment is a pad of about 25 to about 30 notes with a nominal 3 inch square (7.7 cm) format in which the entire back side of each note is covered with adhesive except for a single stripe having a width of about inch (0.9 cm) along one edge.

[0025] The adhesive covers the majority of the back face of the sheet, in some embodiments adhesive covers at least about 75 percent of the area of the back face of the sheet, and in some embodiments the adhesive covers at least about 85 percent of the area of the back face of the sheet. Notes with higher adhesive coverage tend to exhibit greater stability when adhered to a desired surface.

[0026] Although the notes are commonly substantially rectangular in shape (e.g., substantially square as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2A), the notes may be in any desired shape (e.g., other parallelogram, ovate, circular, or more complex shape).

[0027] In some embodiments, the notes have an aspect ratio (i.e., relative dimensions in x and y axes) of from about 2:1 to about 1:2. Notes having configurations outside this range may be used in accordance with the invention.

[0028] In typical embodiments, the notes comprise paper (i.e., a sheet of interconnected small, discrete fibers, typically, cellulose-based fibers) plus optional additives, colorants, coatings, etc. Suitable materials are widely known and available for note applications. As used herein, the term paper is understood to include a sheet material that contains paper fibers (e.g., cellulose-based), which may also contain other materials (e.g., fillers, colorants, etc.). Suitable paper fibers include natural and synthetic fibers, for example, cellulosic fibers, wood fibers of all varieties used in papermaking, other plant fibers, such as cotton fibers, fibers derived from recycled paper; and synthetic fibers, such as rayon, nylon, fiberglass, or polyolefin fibers. For instance, in the preparation of the paper product, the paper web, or paper material may be reinforced with synthetic fibers, such as nylon or fiberglass, or impregnated with nonfibrous materials, such as plastics, polymers, resins, or lotions. The paper may be a coated, laminated, or composite paper material. The paper can be bleached or unbleached.

[0029] Those skilled in the art can readily select and formulate suitable sheet material for the notes. The sheet material should exhibit sufficient strength (e.g., tear strength, dimensional stability) to withstand being grasped and removed from the pad without tearing, shredding, or becoming undesirably stretched out of shape. The sheet material may be of any desired color, often selected in part dependent upon desired writing instruments (e.g., pencils, pens, and markers of select colors).

[0030] The front face of the note should be writeable, that is capable of being written on by hand with desired writing instruments (e.g., pencils, pens, and markers). Desired writeability characteristics may be inherent to the sheet material or improved performance may be obtained by treating the sheet material, or at least the top surface thereof, with select additives, coatings, etc. In addition, select additives to the sheet material or coatings on the front face thereof may be used to optimize desired release of overlying notes from underlying notes.

[0031] Those skilled in the art can readily select and formulate suitable adhesives for use in note pads used in the invention. The adhesive should be such that adhesive on an overlying note separates cleanly from the underlying note when the overlying note is removed from the pad and then provide desired adhesion for the intended note application (e.g., intended adherends such as metal, glass, plastic, wood, paper, etc.; expected temperature and environmental conditions such as temperature, wind, motion, etc.). In some embodiments, the note is only intended for a single use, of either short or indeterminate duration. In other embodiments, the note is preferably capable of repositioning (i.e., placement on and adhesion to a first adherend or position, followed by, one or more times, removal and placement on and adhesion to a subsequent adherend or position).

Dispenser

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, in accordance with the invention, in addition to pad 10 (shown in dotted line in FIG. 2A to permit illustration of other features) assembly 30 comprises dispenser 32 which comprises retention feature 34 adapted to receive and secure pad 10. Retention feature 34 comprises pillar 36 having mounting face 38 surrounded by recessed portion 40. Adhesive on portion 42 of back face 14 of the bottom most note 12 is adhered to mounting face 38.

[0033] The retention feature is adapted to receive the pad. In use, the adhesive on the bottom most note is adhered to the attachment face and portions of the note extend beyond the attachment face.

[0034] Typically, the surface area of the mounting face is equal to from about 15 percent to about 40 percent of the surface area of the adhesive portion of the notes. In some embodiments, the surface area of the mounting face is equal to from about 20 percent to about 30 percent of the surface area of the adhesive portion of the notes. If the surface area of the mounting face is too low, the pad may tend to be dislodged from the assembly during use, such as when the assembly with pad thereon is moved, turned around or over, etc. If the surface area of the mounting face is too large relative to the surface area of the adhesive portion of the notes (i.e., such that increasingly small portion of the notes extend beyond the mounting face), the note pad will be more likely to pop free from assembly when subjected to changes in environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity).

[0035] In an illustrative embodiment, the mounting face has a square configuration with side dimensions of about 1.5 inches1.5 inches (3.8 cm by 3.8 cm), and the pad comprises sheets having a square configuration with side dimensions of about 3 inches by 3 inches (7.7 cm by 7.7 cm), the back sides of the notes having adhesive covering 3 inch by 2 inch portions (7.7 cm by 6.7 cm) and inch (0.9 cm) wide non adhesive portions along one edge. In such embodiment, the area of the mounting face is equal to about 28 percent of the area of the adhesive portion on the back face of the notes.

[0036] In typical embodiments, the retention feature is configured such that the pad is positions substantially centrally on the mounting face.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the central portion of the pad 10 is supported on mounting face 38 while portions of pad 10 extend beyond mounting face 38 over recessed portion 40 of retention feature 34. Thus, if pad 10 tends to curve toward the adhesive side in response to environmental changes such as changes in humidity or temperature, as the outer edges of pad 10 distend in that manner, they tend to curl (downward or in the z-axis in the orientation depicted in FIG. 2B) toward the surface of recessed portion 40. Because the relative elevation of mounting face 38 is above that of recessed portion 40, the pad may undergo such curl without overcoming the strength of the bond between adhesive 17 and mounting face 38 which keeps pad 10 bonded to assembly 30.

[0038] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the elevation of the entirety of the surface of recessed portion 40 is substantially level and parallel to, but relatively lower, than mounting face 38. In some embodiments, the height of the mounting face is about 0.03 inch (0.8 mm) above (again, in the z-axis) the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes. In other embodiments, the height of the mounting face is about 0.06 inch (1.5 mm) above the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes. In still other embodiments, the height of the mounting face is about 0.12 inch (3 mm) above the level of the recessed portion at the perimeter of the notes. If the difference in elevation is too little, pads will tend to pop off when distending in response to environmental conditions, failing to obtain desired benefits of the invention. If the difference in elevation is too high, pads may be subject to being dislodged when portions extending beyond the mounting face are subjected to pressure (e.g., such as when writing on the top most note in the pad).

[0039] In some embodiments, the surface of recessed portion 40 is adapted to reduce the degree of adhesion which the adhesive of overlaying portions of pad 10 will develop thereto should they come into contact. For instance, the surface may be roughened, dull, textured, or coated with release agent. In contrast, a strong bond to mounting face 38 is desired. Accordingly, mounting face 38 is typically adapted to bond effectively with the adhesive, such as being smooth to facilitate effective adhesive bonding, or coated with a bond enhancing agent.

[0040] In some embodiments, the retention feature comprises one or more peripheral wall segments. These segments may surround only portions of the recessed portion or they may substantially completely surround the recessed portion. Typically at least a portion of the retention surface will be open to permit access to remove sheets from the pad as desired.

[0041] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, retention feature 34 comprises three optional peripheral wall segments 46. The fourth side of the retention feature is open (wall opening 47) such that release corners 20, 22 and associated non-adhesive covered edges of the notes of pad 10 are accessible. In this embodiment, wall segments 46 extend higher in the z-axis above the plane defined by mounting face 38 than the thickness of pad 10 (i.e., wall height W.sub.H is greater than pad thickness P.sub.T). In such configuration, wall segments 46 can better protect pad 10 such as when the assembly is moved or used, or if it is subject to impact from other articles. However, such configuration may make it more difficult to write on the front face of the top most note before removing it from the pad.

[0042] In other embodiments, the wall segments, if provided, may be shorter than the pad thickness (i.e., wall height W.sub.H is less than pad thickness P.sub.T). In such embodiments, it is typically easier to write on the front face of the top most note before removing it from the pad, though such configurations may tend to provide less protection to the pad.

[0043] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, peripheral wall segments 446 completely surround the recessed portion. In order to permit engagement with and removal of individual notes, at least one of the one or more peripheral wall segments is profiled to have a relatively shorter height at some portion (e.g., wall opening 447) and relatively taller height at another portion (e.g., wall corners 448). Wall openings 447 permit access to the pad to remove sheets from the pad as desired, while relatively higher wall corners 448 and proximate portions of the walls provide protection to the pads and constituent notes. In other embodiments, a smaller (e.g., finger-sized, or thumb-sized) opening corresponding in location to non-adhesive portions of the notes is used.

[0044] The invention may be used with pads full adhesive notes having many different shapes, typically some regular rectangle of some selected dimensions but also optionally other straight and rounded sided shapes.

[0045] The shape or profile of the attachment face may be a correspondingly smaller version of the notes or different, for instance, attachment faces which are circular, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, etc.

[0046] Notes from pads on dispensers are typically used by either first removing a note from the pad and then writing on it (i.e., after having positioned it on a temporary or final location), or first writing on the note while still on the pad, then removing it and positioning as desired. In some embodiments, the recessed portion and other components of the retention feature may be configured to optimize ease and comfort of writing on the top most note while it is still in situ on the pad coupled with accommodating environmentally induced pad curl. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate such an embodiment wherein the degree to which the surface of the recessed portion 340 is recessed below the elevation of mounting face 338 gradually increases from the edge of mounting face 338 to a desired degree at the pad perimeter distance. In the embodiment shown, recessed portion 340 is made up of sloped sides 339 culminating with distal level 341 which is at a constant level (in x-y plane) below mounting face 338 and sloped sides 339. In other embodiments, the elevation or surface profile of the recessed portion may be continuous single straight line extending from the edge of the mounting face to the distal perimeter distance, or it may be somewhat curved, or other configuration. In order to optimize writing on even the last note in a pad (i.e., the one in contact with the mounting face), it is typically preferred that the elevation profile (i.e., the surface level of the recessed portion extending from the edge of the mounting face to at least the point on the surface where the perimeter of the pad extends) be a smooth line.

[0047] In some embodiments, the surface of the recessed portion will project at a declination angle of from about 5 to about 15, typically preferably about 10, from the plane (i.e., x-y axes) defined by the mounting face. If the declination angle is too little (i.e., such that the difference in relative Z-axis elevation between the mounting face and that of the surrounding recessed portion is too little), the assembly will tend to fail to retain pads as desired. If the declination angle is too great, it may be difficult to write on notes first before removing them from the pad.

[0048] The secure and stable mounting which can be achieved with assemblies of the invention permits mounting of pads of notes in many heretofore challenging configurations. For instance, the invention can be used to make a 6 sided assembly with a pad and retention surface on each side as desired. FIG. 4 is a plan view of one side of such an assembly wherein assembly 430 is shown with five pads 410a, 410b, 410c, 410d, 410e. Each pad is separately mounted to the assembly within a retention feature (e.g., 434) comprising surrounding peripheral walls 446. In this embodiment, peripheral wall segments 446 completely surround retention feature 434 and are profiled with maximum height at the corners and relatively lower height in the middle to permit access to the pads so that a note may be removed therefrom as desired. In this embodiment, pillar 436 is cylindrical in shape such that mounting face 438 is round.

[0049] As desired, assemblies of the invention can be made in portable embodiments (e.g., of suitable size, shape, and weight), or as standalone desk top or table top devices (e.g., which are weighted for stability). Assemblies of the invention may further comprise additional features such as optional protective lids or closures which cover and protect the pad and/or retention feature. Assemblies of the invention can be incorporated into other devices and objects (e.g., as a component feature of a utility tray, clip board, or desk top tool carousel). Assemblies of the invention may be made in essentially independent form (e.g., a flat bottom so as to sit in stable manner on a typical flat desk top or table top) or adapted to secure to surfaces or objects as desired (e.g., with adhesive or mechanical fastening means such as clips, screws, etc. so that the assembly can be affixed to a notebook cover or lap top cover).

TABLE-US-00001 Reference Number Key Reference Number Feature 10 Pad 11 Top of pad 12 Note 13 Sheet 14 Back face of note 15 Front face of note 16 Adhesive portion 17 Adhesive layer 18 Non-adhesive portion 20, 22 Release corner 24, 26 Corner 30 Assembly 32 Dispenser 34 Retention Feature 36 Pillar 38 Mounting face 40 Recessed portion 42 Portion of back face of note in contact with mounting face 44 Portion of back face of note extending beyond mounting face 46 Wall segment 47 Wall opening W.sub.H Wall height P.sub.T Pad thickness 334 Retention Feature 336 Pillar 338 Mounting face 339 Proximal portion of recessed portion 340 Recessed portion 341 Distal portion of recessed portion 410a, 410b, 410c, 410d,410e Pad 420, 422 Release corner 430 Assembly 446 Wall segment 447 Wall opening 448 Wall corner 450 Wall middle portion

[0050] Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.