WO2008145945A1

WO2008145945A1 - Indexing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2008145945A1
Application number: PCT/GB2007/001984
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neville Simeon Conrad
Original assignee: First Major Assets Ltd
Current assignee: First Major Assets Ltd
Priority date: 2007-05-25
Filing date: 2007-05-25
Publication date: 2008-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2009-11-25

Abstract

Apparatus for storing and indexing an individual's recollections of and comments about events, activities and in particular books.

Description

Indexing Apparatus

This application relates to books, bookmarks and in particular bookmarks which can be used in combination with a folder system in order to document or catalogue an individual's recollections and thoughts about a book.

Formal professional reviews of books can be found in newspapers for example, or on the internet, but a reader may also wish to look back at a book he/she has read and remember his/her personal opinion of the book and a synopsis. However, traditionally there has been no dedicated apparatus for indexing or cataloguing one's own recollections of books. Prior art systems generally consisted of writing these recollections in books or periodicals or more informally, writing comments in the margin of the book that is being read or writing in a journal type book such as a diary.

The invention provides a novel album for bookmark-type cards (hereinafter referred to generally as "bookmarks") for collecting and storing a reader's recollections about books, but may also be utilised as a journal or memory bank for various other cultural activities and events such as sports events, theatre productions, cinema, opera, ballet, dining and travel.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for indexing book reviews and comments about other cultural activities or events according to claim 1.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for keeping reading places in books and for storing the reader's comments about each book according to claim 10.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a holder for indexing book recollections and other notes according to claim 11.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a bookmark according to claim 16. According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a ring binder according to claim 17.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of storing and indexing an individual's recollections and comments according to claim 18. According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a method of indexing book reviews and comments about other cultural activities or events according to claim 19.

The apparatus provides a more preferable alternative to a system in which notes are simply written in the margin of the book while reading it, as rather than having to find the book and scan through the margins to find notes, the reader can write notes on the bookmark and, when the book is finished, file the bookmarks in the album.

As books are often borrowed either from a library or a friend, writing in the margin is not always appropriate. Furthermore, it is inconvenient to carry a separate book in which to write notes whereas the bookmark is always with the book and provides an easy place to make notes.

The bookmarks can be arranged in chronological order and provide an easier method of finding comments than searching for the book and scanning through for comments in the margin as the reader may forget the name and author of the book he/she read and may only remember approximately when it was read. Preferably the album is in the form of a book, having pages specially adapted to receive a plurality of bookmarks.

More preferably the pages of the album have slots which are shallower than the bookmarks so that part of the bookmark extends out of the slot. By allowing part of the bookmark to extend out of the slot this part can be used to index the important information about the publishing details of the book such as title, author and date read. The remainder of the bookmark can include notes on the book and other information such as synopsis and those key events happening at the time of reading. An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a holder, in combination with bookmarks according to the invention. Figure 2 shows a page of the holder according to the invention.

Figure 3 shows a page of the holder in combination with 5 bookmarks according to the invention.

Figure 4 shows a rear view of a bookmark according to the invention.

Figure 5 shows a front view of a bookmark according to the invention. Figure 6 shows a cross sectional view of a page of the holder according to a first embodiment of the invention the cross section taken along line A-A as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 7 shows an enlarged view of part of the holder according to the invention as shown in Figure 6. Figure 8 shows a cross sectional view of a page of the holder according to a second embodiment of the invention the cross section taken along line A-A as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 9 shows a cross sectional view of a page of the holder according to a third embodiment of the invention the cross section taken along line A-A as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 10 shows an enlarged view of part of the holder according to the invention as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 shows a holder having a perforable sheet defining plural bookmarks.

Figures 12A and 12B show a concertina-shaped sheet for retaining bookmarks. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, it can be seen that the front side of the bookmark, 2, has a top section, 4, and a bottom section, 6. Top section, 4, is provided with various indexing marks, such as title, author, date started and date finished in the case of a book, or title, teams, score, location, restaurant/place visited, event name, key persons and date in a case such as theatre, cinema, opera, sports, travel, dining, museum or gallery visited. Bottom section, 6, is provided with a large space for writing notes on the book that is being read, event attended, place visited etcetera and a small space at the bottom for writing about key events in the life of the reader or memorable national or international events.

In an alternative embodiment the bookmark is made as a folded piece of paper or card, or with more than one leaf, in order to allow more space for writing.

Now, referring to Figure 1 , the holder according to a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an album, 8, made up of pages, 10, (shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 6) having a plurality of slots, 12.

Figure 2 shows a front view of one page according to an embodiment of the invention, with no bookmarks in place, whereas Figure 3 shows the front view of a page with five bookmarks in place. Figure 6 shows a first embodiment of the invention in which each of the slots, 12, forms a pocket extending towards the rear surface, 14, of the page, 10, so as to retain the bookmarks, 2. Figure 7 shows an enlarged view of a pocket retaining the bookmark in which it can be seen that each pocket is made up of a front surface, 16, a bottom surface, 18 and a rear surface 20. It is evident from Figure 6 that each of the pockets is adapted to have the same depth, so that the bookmarks, 2, will each extend from the top of the slot to an equal height such that the same part, 4, can be seen by the user. In a second embodiment as shown in Figure 8, the pockets extend to the rear surface, 14, of the page, 10, such that the rear surface of one pocket forms the front surface of another pocket. A bottom surface could optionally be formed between the surface and the rear of the page, 14.

In a third simplified embodiment as shown in Figures 9 and 10, the pages can be formed without pockets, however this is less advantageous as the bookmarks could potentially fall down the slots into the page. However, in order to prevent this, the front surface, 22, and rear surface, 14, of the page are preferably resiliently biased towards each other, so as to grip the bookmark, 2. Furthermore, the bookmark, 2, is preferably made of a resilient material, such as a sheet of cardboard laminated on one side. When pushed into the slot it is bent out of shape and in its attempt to return to the original shape a resistive or retaining force between the bookmark and the page occurs which retains the bookmark in position. More preferably, the resilient bias between the front and rear surfaces (22,14) is achieved by affixing two resilient sheets forming the front and rear surfaces (22,14) to each other with little or no gap. This can be achieved, for example, by gluing a front surface, 22, to a back surface, 14, at the top, 24, and the bottom, 26.

Referring to Figure 11 , a holder 30 having a bookmark sheet 32 including perforations 34 defining plural bookmarks 36 is shown. Each perforation 34 defines a boundary of a bookmark 36, which can be pressed out of the sheet 32 by a user. The bookmarks 36 can then be used in association with the holder 30 as explained above. Although the boundaries are shown to be of the same shape and size, they could also define several differently shaped bookmarks 36. The sheet 32 is formed as a part of the holder 30, for example by binding it to the spine when then pages comprising the slots are bound. However, once the bookmarks 36 have all been pressed out of the sheet, a user may wish to remove the sheet 32 from the holder 30, most probably for aesthetic reasons. To facilitate this, the sheet 32 includes a further perforation 38 in the form of a perforated line extending from the top to the bottom of the sheet and near to the spine of the holder 30.

Referring to Figures 12A and 12B, a concertina-shaped folded sheet 40 which comprises plural segments 41 , adjacent segments 41 defining pockets 42 into which bookmarks 2 can be retained is shown. The sheet 40 is preferably unitary in that it is made from one sheet of material. The sheet 40 may be used instead of the slotted pages 10 described above, or may be used to provide the pockets behind the slotted pages 10. Thus, instead of providing, for example, the front surface 16, bottom surface 18 and rear surface 20 (Figure 6) for a respective pocket, folded sheet 40 can be placed between the front and rear surfaces 22, 14 of the page to provide the pockets. Preferably, the folded sheet 40 is made from cardboard. However, the sheet 40 could be made from a plastics material and could be sealed or stamped, for example by heat- sealing or pressure-stamping at lateral edges to provide three-sided pockets or pouches 44 for retaining the bookmarks 2.

Other possible embodiments of the invention include a ring binder holding pages according to the aforementioned embodiments and in a simplified version, a ring binder holding punched bookmarks according to the invention.

It will be appreciated that the invention may be embodied as a ring binder, comprising a pair of outer covers and at least two internal retaining rings, including pages which are punched so that they can be mounted on the rings, and in turn carry the bookmarks. Alternatively the binder may include bookmarks which are themselves punched so that they can be mounted directly on the rings.

Claims

Claims:

1. Apparatus for indexing book reviews and comments about other cultural activities or events comprising; an album comprising at least one page having a plurality of retainers each adapted to house a bookmark; and at least one bookmark adapted to receive writing on at least one side.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the retainers comprise slots.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the retainers comprise pockets having an open end defined by the slot, the pocket having a depth less than the height of the bookmark.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the album comprises a sheet defining a removable bookmark. ^■

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the bookmark is perforably removable.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the sheet is removable from the album.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sheet is perforably removable.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one page comprises a concertina-shaped folded sheet and wherein the plurality of retainers comprise pockets defined by adjacent segments of the folded sheet.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one page comprises a concertina-shaped folded sheet and wherein the plurality of retainers comprise pouches formed between the folds and having closed lateral edges.

10. Apparatus for keeping reading places in books and for storing the reader's comments about each book, comprising an album having a plurality of retainers to receive cards, and a plurality of cards, each adapted to receive comments about a respective book and to be used as a bookmark therein, and also adapted to fit into one of said retainers.

11. A holder for indexing book reviews and comments about other cultural activities or events comprising; a pair of outer covers and at least one page having a plurality of slots each adapted to retain a bookmark.

12. A holder according to claim 11 wherein the at least one page comprises layers of material and wherein pockets having an open end defined by the slots are formed between the layers.

13. A holder according to claim 11 wherein the at least one page comprises a front surface and a rear surface, resiliently biased towards each other and wherein the front and/or rear surface comprises the slots.

14. A holder according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the outer covers comprise the covers of a ring binder and the at least one page has holes provided in order to co-operate with the ring binder.

15. Apparatus or a holder according to any of the preceding claims wherein the bookmark comprises a top section and a bottom section; the top section having space for noting prescribed publishing details and the bottom section having space for notations of a reader's choice; and wherein the top section projects from the slot when the bookmark is retained in the slot.

16. A bookmark adapted to be retained an apparatus or a holder according to any one of the preceding claims the bookmark being adapted to receive writing on at least one side.

17. A ring binder, in combination with a plurality of bookmarks adapted to receive writing on at least one side and having holes formed in them in order to be retainable in said ring binder.

18. A method of storing and indexing an individual's recollections and comments comprising: providing an album; and indexing and storing a plurality of bookmarks, each adapted to receive writing on at least one side, in the album.

19. A method of indexing book reviews and comments about other cultural activities or events comprising: providing a holder having a pair of outer covers and at least one page having a plurality of slots each adapted to retain a bookmark; and indexing the bookmark in one of the plurality of slots.

20. Apparatus, a holder, a ring binder or a bookmark substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.