Compositional Notebook/Diary with Concealed Pocket for Valuables

Abstract

A valuables-holding device in the form of a booklet which appears, when closed, to be an ordinary compositional notebook or pocket diary has a flange or transparent overlay extending around three sides of the inside front cover. A flexible covering plate, with its edge secured to the spine of the booklet, has its free edge capable of being slid behind the overlay. This will cover the space between the back of the covering plate and the inside surface of the front cover of the booklet. The covering plate can be slid out of the overlay, too, to expose that space. Secured to the inside of the front cover is a credit card organizer. The front cover and the covering plate are both preferably formed with a thin sheet of metal. Thus, the space between those components is electronically sealed or blocked from an RFID reader. The covering plate includes a slot for sliding paper money therethrough and into the space between the back of the credit card organizer and the inside surface of the front cover.

Claims

1. A camouflaging device for storing valuables comprising: a pocket sized booklet having a front cover, a back cover, a central spine defining a paper turning axis and having one or more sheets of paper held therein, a sheet and malleable covering plate turnable about said axis defined by said central spine, wherein a pocket is formed between the inside of said front cover and one side of said covering plate, said covering plate, in a first position, sliding over and covering said pocket for hiding said pocket from view and, yet, in a second position, when turned about said longitudinal axis, said covering plate exposing the contents of said pocket, and said pocket holding a credit card organizer.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said credit card organizer is secured to the inside surface of said front cover on one, two or three ends of the credit card organizer so that a holding area is formed behind said credit card organizer for paper money.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said covering plate is held substantially flat and upon said credit card organizer, in said first position, by an inwardly recessed flange-like overlay.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said flange-like overlay extends and is inwardly recessed from the outside edges of said front cover and located upon the inside surface of said cover.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said flange-like overlay is transparent.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front cover is further provided with a thin layer of metallic sheet.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front and said back cover are each provided with a credit card organizer.

8. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said front and back covers are both provided with a thin layer of metallic sheet to block an RFID reader.

9. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein a writing implement is attached to said booklet.

10. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of said covers are visually slightly tattered.

11. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said covering plate is provided with one or more slots to allow folding money to pass into said pocket behind said credit card organizer.

12. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said covering plate is formed from or with a layer of metal.

13. A device as claimed in claim 12 wherein said layer of metal is formed from aluminum, copper, silver, gold, or alloys thereof.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 is an angled perspective side, bottom edge and top view of the invention in the closed position;

[0027] FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention in the position where the booklet is opened and the covering plate shown captured beneath and by the overlaying flanges/overlays, which are visible on and extend inwardly from the edges of the inside surface of the front cover and also showing the slots through the covering plate;

[0028] FIG. 2a is a cross sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 2, and shows the outside cover of the booklet and the covering plate and the transparent, holding flanges/overlay; and

[0029] FIG. 3 is a top view of the invention, also in the open position, with the edges of the covering plate rolled out of and removed from the flanges/overlays, with the covering plate turned to be superimposed over the other pages of the booklet, and revealing the credit card organizers on the inside surface of the front and outer cover of the booklet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0030] The present invention is a concealed set of pocket(s) or credit card carrying set of organizing slots within a notebook or booklet to serve as a wallet that enables users to carry objects of importance or value, such as paper money, credit cards, and/or a passport, etc., safely and discretely. The carrier or compact organizer for the credit cards is much like that of ordinary wallets, i.e., it is a set of vertically stacked and staggered slots for holding the credit cards but displaying and visually showing only the top segment to aid in ease of identification and removal. The present invention will be described with respect to a single or set of credit card organizing or holding pockets for being concealed in the booklet, it being understood that the invention can have one or more organizers and/or holding pockets on the front and/or rear inside covers of the booklet. The invention is intended to conceal the contents of the booklet from a thief and the device is intended to distract the thief to believe that the holder is carrying a personal notebook, a compositional notebook or personal diary/booklet, as the same has the visual appearance of a small booklet (with lined and stacked pages bound by a spine) and the same is provided with a writing pen, too, to enhance the deceit.

[0031] The invention consists of, what appears to be, a notebook or booklet 10 having many stacked and lined pages 12, bound to a spine 13, and including an attached pen 14 (not shown in FIGS. 3, 3a and 4). The notebook has several pages stacked on top of one another, as in a booklet, which are bound on one end (at the spine 13) and has a front 16 and back cover 18. Preferably, the front cover 16 and back cover 18 are covered with attractive paper or material as that tends to look more like a poetry book, a book of personal thoughts, musings, food lists, a diary, etc. The pages may be bound to form a spine 13 by any means desired including glue or sewing and the covers secured in a conventional manner. For all visual intentions and purposes, the device appears to be a common compositional, personal notebook, booklet or pocket diary with lined and stacked pages bound by a single spine 13 and possibly including a writing instrument or pen 14. However, the owner uses the same as a mechanism to conceal his valuablespaper money, credit cards, driver's license, etc. while travelling away from home or even within one's home environment.

[0032] Preferably, the booklet 10 has an overlaying and stacked set of lined pages 19 which are quite ordinary, extending from the spine 13, to the open edge 31 (opposite the spine 13), to the top edges 33 and bottom edges 35 of the booklet 10. Preferably, these pages are lined so that if one opens the front or rear cover of the book 10, it appears as an ordinary writing booklet.

[0033] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the front page 41 of the booklet is lined. Indeed, if desired, all of the pages can be lined for ease of writing notes therein. The front cover 16 is preferably made of a thick, almost cardboard material to prevent a thief or another person from feeling through the cover and to the credit cards behind the cover. Preferably, the front cover and the rear cover, 16 and 18, respectively, are lined with thin, malleable, i.e., able to be rolled, sheets of metal. This will provide a tactile blocking of the inside of the booklet and, in addition, will block an RFID reader from penetrating the covers. In an alternate embodiment, the front cover 16 alone (or rear cover 18, alone) is lined and the covering plate 100 is the other side of the metal sandwich construction for blocking the RFID reader. The inside surface 17 (See FIG. 2A) of the front cover 16 is the inside or first surface of a holding pocket for the credit card organizer 60 with vertically stacked and staggered slots 61, which is between the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16 and the backside 51 of the covering plate 100. This can be seen in FIG. 2A. The credit card organizer 60, preferably, is adhered to the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16 on at least one edge, but preferably two edges, 73 and 75 (See FIG. 3) so that paper money slid into that pocket area (between inside surface 17 of front cover 16 and one surface or backside 51 of the covering plate 100, can slide into that space/area. The paper money, not shown, can be slid into that area behind the credit card organizer 60 through side slots 93 and 95 of covering plate 100, which are preferably aligned with the spine 13 but slightly indented from the spine. As shown, the top edge of the stacked and vertically stacked credit cards extend across the front cover, basically aligned with the lines of the pages of the booklet. However, in an alternate embodiment, the top edges of the credit cards and thus the credit card organizer can extend parallel to the front edge of the cover.

[0034] The covering plate or sheet 100 is substantially co-extensive with the other pages 12 and serves to cover the inside surface, the credit card organizer 60 and the paper money holding area on the inside of the front cover 16. The covering plate 100 can be lined with a thin, flexible, metallic and malleable layer of sheet metal, preferably, copper, aluminum, silver even gold and alloys thereof. The pocket formed between the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16 and the inside surface of the covering plate 100 is thus an RFID blocker, i.e., an RFID reader should not be able to penetrate the same and gain access to the data on credit cards. The covering plate 100 is sufficiently thick to form one side of the blocking area for the RFID reader and/or, alternatively, the back 18 of the booklet can be lined, too, with a thin metallic layer or sheet.

[0035] Extending around the free and outside edge 110, the top edge 111 and the bottom edge 112 of the front cover 16, on the inside 17 of the cover, i.e., covering a part of the inside surface 17 of front cover 16, is a set of contiguous flanges 115, in effect a preferably transparent holder or overlay. It extends from the outside edges 111, 112, and 110 inwardly, and forms a preferably indented, transparent set of continuous flanges for the edges of the covering plate 110 to be selectively held behind. When the edges of the flexible, covering plate 100 is slid behind the transparent flanges or overlay 115, the covering plate 100 is substantially coextensive with the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16 so that the covering plate 100 covers the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16. A pocket is thus formed between the covering plate 100 and the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16. The free outward edges of the covering plate 100 are behind the flange/overlay 115, held there to cover and hide the credit card organizer 60, the credit cards contained therein, and the holding pocket area for the folding money, behind the organizer 60.

[0036] When access is desired to the credit cards and/or the paper money, the user needs to remove, by rolling and sliding the free edges of the covering plate 100 towards the spine 13, by removing its edges from beneath the flange overlay 115, to expose the credit card organizer 60 and provide access to the holding area for the paper funds.

[0037] As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, slots 93 and 95 are provided through the covering plate 100 so that paper money can be folded and slid therethrough to store money behind the covering plate and the credit card organizer 60even with the covering plate in its first, original and hiding position of credit cards. FIG. 2 shows the covering plate 100 overlaying the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16 (with the edges of the covering plate 100 overlying the lined pages 12 of the booklet 10, when access to the credit card organizer 60 and the paper folded money is not desired but rather camouflaging is desired. In this Figure, the covering plate 100 is superimposed over the inside surface 17 of the front cover 16. When the covering plate 100 is slid out from the overlay 115, and the covering plate turned over the other pages 12, as shown in FIG. 3, the credit card organizer 60 is visible.

[0038] Information theft is common and pervasive today. It may occur not by necessarily physically stealing the actual document(s) or items but by remotely scanning documents having electronic tags, such as RFID tags, electronic strips, machine readable items which are maintained in the user's/owner's possession. This type of theft does not require that someone physically obtain the cards or documents but instead can be done by positioning an electronic scanner or RFID reader near the item and scanning the item without the document ever leaving the possession of the owner. Thieves then have access to the information stored and can use this information for identity theft, human trafficking, theft of goods and services and similar crimes.

[0039] Often the information is quickly sold to a third party who improperly uses the same for another nefarious purpose.

[0040] To prevent a thief from scanning documents, the front and/or back covers 16 and/or 18 of the booklet 10 or at least the surfaces surrounding the credit card organizer 60 (e.g., the inside surface 17 of cover 16 and the front or opposing surface of the covering plate 100) are preferably provided with a thin, flexible sheet of metal. Preferably, the thin metal plate is covered with cardboard or paper or fabric to make the overall device attractive and to provide the tactile feel blockage referred to above. While both front and back could be metal lined, the back cover 18 need not be if the card organizer is only in the front of the booklet 10 and the covering plate 100 is lined. Or, the front, the back covers and/or the covering plate can be metal lined. The metal plate may be sandwiched between pieces of soft fabric and/or attractive material making up the cover(s) 16 and 18 or may be attached to the inside surfaces of the cover(s). Preferably the metal sheet is lightweight, flexible, rollable and thin and is covered on all sides or has rounded edges to prevent causing harm or damage to the user and surrounding things. Electronic scanners cannot penetrate metal and therefore the metal plate(s) prevent an unauthorized person from scanning information from documents especially credit card magnetic strips, to the extent contained within the notebook or booklet 10. The metal plate may be comprised of thin sheet steel, aluminum, copper, silver, even gold, or alloys or other thin metallic sheets and should be sized to cover at least the dimensions of the holding pockets and/or the credit card organizer 60 to adequately protect the credit cards.

[0041] The notebook also includes a writing implement, an attached pen 14 in the preferred embodiment. The pen 14 may be attached by any means a manufacturer desires.

[0042] It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular feature or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims.