Dated or undated diary with pen or pencil

Abstract

A dated or undated diary according to this disclosure, integrates magnets in the cover of the diary, corresponding to peripheral facing portions that protrude from the pages of the diary, and is equipped with a pen / pencil that incorporates other magnets such that, when the pen / pencil is placed in contact against the facing portions of the cover, the magnets of the pen / pencil and the magnets of the peripheral facing portions of the cover attract each other and cooperate to hold the diary closed by the pen / pencil, retaining the facing portions of the cover by preventing them from moving apart from each other when the pen / pencil is in contact with the facing portions.

Description

[0001] DATED OR UNDATED DIARY WITH PEN OR PENCIL

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present invention relates generally to stationery and more specifically to a dated or undated diary provided with a pen or pencil attached to the cover of the diary without the use of any elastic pen loop or flap.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Paper notebooks or paper diaries are still widely used for taking notes, despite the ever- increasing use of mobile electronic devices. The latter are of practical use when short notes need to be taken, but the former are widely preferred for recording handwritten notes or drawings because of their simplicity and immediacy of use.

[0006] Many diaries, whether dated or undated, are supplied with an attached pen or pencil. Typically, in diaries to which a pen is also attached, such as the one illustrated in figure 1, the cover 1 is wider than the pages 2 of the diaiy and has facing peripheral portions 3a, 3b, which protrude beyond the fore edge of the pages 2. These portions 3a, 3b are arranged along a longitudinal direction of the cover on opposite sides with respect to the spine 9 of the diary, oriented along a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, and define a space in which to house the pen or pencil 4.

[0007] As shown in figure 1, such diaries may have a flap 5 that has a snap button 6 that allows the diary to be kept closed and also has an pen loop (not visible in the figure) made inside the flap 5 itself, into which to insert the shaft of a pen or pencil 4. With this solution, the flap 5 serves both to keep the diary closed and to hold the pencil or pen 4. A disadvantage is that the flap 5 can accidentally tear, so that the diary can no longer be closed and the pen 4 can no longer remain attached to the diary'. Furthermore, the production of the flap 5 requires additional manufacturing process steps, which increase the total production costs.

[0008] Patent GB774664 illustrates a closing mechanism for a diary with two closing flaps of the type illustrated in figure 2 that cover the front part opposite the spine, i.e. the fore edge, so as to protect the pages. The flaps are joined face to face by permanent magnets 8, 9 which attract each other to keep the diary closed. The permanent magnets 8, 9 allow a pencil or pen 10 to be held close to it, provided that the pencil or pen 10 has an external metal coating. As for the diary of figure 1, also the closing mechanism disclosed in the cited patent requires dedicated process steps for the manufacturing of the closing flaps.

[0009] According to another solution illustrated in figure 3, a diary can be equipped with an elastic band 7 fixed to the cover 1 to keep the diary closed and a pen loop 8 in which to insert the barrel of the pen or pencil 4. Typically, the pen loop 8 is fixed to the cover 1 and is also made of elastic material, so as to be able to tighten the shaft of the pen 4 and prevent it from being accidentally removed. This solution is disadvantageous as it requires the integration of an elastic band 7 to close the diary and a pen loop 8 to hold the pen 4, so the manufacturing process is slowed down by these operations. Furthermore, as is well known to many users, the elastic band used to close the diary is glued to an internal part of the cover 1 and comes out of the cover 1 through a hole, which generally must be edged with a metal eyelet (not shown in the figure) to prevent the elastic band 7, used to close the diary, from being pulled, which could damage the cover 1. Consequently, the manufacturing of this cover 1 requires dedicated process steps that slow down large-scale production.

[0010] It would be desirable to have a new dated or undated diary of the type without a closing flap, which would allow a pen or pencil 4 to be held in a stable manner, without using elastic loops 8 to be fixed to the cover 1, and which could be kept securely closed without requiring additional manufacturing process steps other than those required to make the cover 1 of a diary without a closing elastic band 7.

[0011] SUMMARY

[0012] A flap-less dated or undated diary of the type without a closing flap has been devised which does not require an elastic band to keep the diary' closed or to fix to the cover an external pen loop in which to insert a pen. This result has been achieved by integrating permanent magnets into the cover of the diary, in correspondence with facing peripheral portions that protrude from the pages of the diary, and by equipping the diary with a pen or pencil that incorporates other permanent magnets so that, when the pen (or pencil) is placed in contact against the facing portions of the cover, the permanent magnets of the pen (or pencil) and the permanent magnets of the facing peripheral portions of the cover attract each other and cooperate to keep the diary closed by means of the pen (or pencil), retaining the facing portions of the cover preventing their mutual separation when the pen (or pencil) is in contact with the facing portions.

[0013] Further embodiments are defined in the attached claims.

[0014] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 shows a prior art diai'y with a snap-button flap on the cover to hold the diary closed and to retain a pen.

[0016] Figure 2 shows a diary with a closing mechanism comprising two magnetic flaps that attract each other.

[0017] Figure 3 shows a prior art diary with an elastic band to hold the diary closed and a pen loop to insert a pen associated with the diary.

[0018] Figure 4 shows a cover of a diai'y, wherein the cover of this disclosure comprises two magnets installed at facing peripheral portions of the diary.

[0019] Figure 5 shows the cover of Figure 4 and a pen with embedded permanent magnets to schematically illustrate how, in a diai'y of the present disclosure, the magnets of the pen cooperate with those of the cover to hold the diary closed.

[0020] DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] An example of an embodiment of a diary according to the present disclosure is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. The diary of this disclosure has a cover 1 made as in Figure 4. Similar’ to known diaries, such as that of Figure 1, the cover 1 has facing peripheral portions 3a, 3b that remain spaced from each other when the diai'y is closed and that protrude from the pages of the diary in the front part (the fore edge) where a user typically inserts his fingers to open the diary.

[0022] Differently from known diaries of the type without a closing flap, permanent magnets 10a, 10b are incorporated into the cover 1 of the diary of the present disclosure, arranged as shown in Figures 3 and 4 facing each other and oriented so as to attract each other. Although the permanent magnets 10a, 10b attract each other, the Applicant noted that the attractive force is insufficient to keep the diary firmly closed, unless expensive and bulky permanent magnets 10a, 10b are used, which could not be integrated into the cover 1 of a diary without visibly altering its appearance.

[0023] To overcome this unexpected inconvenience, the Applicant has also created a pen or pencil 11 which has a barrel equipped with other permanent magnets arranged so that, when the pen or pencil 11 is placed in contact against the facing portions of the cover, as shown in figure 5, the magnets of the pen or pencil 11 are in front of respective permanent magnets 10a, 10b, of the facing portions 3a, 3b, so as to attract each other. Thanks to the mutual attraction between each permanent magnet 10a, 10b, of a facing portion 3a, 3 b and a respective permanent magnet of the pen 11 when the pen 11 is in contact with the facing portions, the pen 11 itself cooperates with the facing portions 3a, 3b of the cover 1 to retain them and prevent them from moving away from each other. In practice, it is the pen or pencil 11 which, when placed between the permanent magnets 10a and 10b and even if the facing peripheral portions 3a, 3b remain facing and mutually spaced, mechanically connects the facing peripheral portions 3a, 3b of the cover 1 when the diary is closed and acts mechanically as a closing flap.

[0024] With this innovative solution, there is no longer any need for an elastic band 7 to keep the diary closed, nor for a pen loop 8 to insert the barrel of the pen 1 1 to keep it attached to the diary, because the pen 11 remains attached to the cover 1 thanks to the mutual attraction of two pairs of permanent magnets placed opposite each other and the diary cannot be opened accidentally because the pen 11 itself prevents the facing portions of the cover 3a, 3b from moving apart, unless the mutual attraction force of the two pairs of magnets is exceeded. An advantage of this embodiment is that it is possible to make a diary according to the present invention even by simply transforming a diary of the type without a flap currently on the market. In fact, it is sufficient to install the permanent magnets 10a, 10b on the facing peripheral portions of the cover and to attach to the diary a. pen or pencil 11 with permanent magnets as illustrated, which can be manufactured with a distinct and separate process.

[0025] According to one aspect, the permanent magnets of the pen 11 are incorporated into the barrel of the pen 11 and are arranged so as to be hidden from view from the outside, so that a user is not able to distinguish the pen 11 of the diary of this disclosure from a common other pen 4.

[0026] According to one aspect not shown in the figures, the diary of this disclosure is provided with a pencil with magnets attached to the outside of the barrel of the pencil.

[0027] According to one aspect, wherein the diary is associated with a pen or pencil 11 having a substantially cylindrical barrel with a circular cross-section, the permanent magnets associated with the pen or pencil 11 are at a mutual distance from each other equal to at least 25% of the diameter of such circular cross-section.

[0028] In the embodiment wherein the diary is associated with a pencil (not shown in the figures) having a cross-section shapes as a regular hexagon, the pencil magnets will be positioned on the pencil barrel conveniently at a distance equal to at least 25% of the diagonal of such regular hexagon.

[0029] According to one aspect, wherein the diary is associated with a pen or pencil 11 having a substantially cylindrical barrel with a circular cross-section, the magnets incorporated in the barrel are at a mutual distance equal to or greater than one side of a square inscribed in the circular cross-section of the barrel. Tests carried out by the Applicant have shown that this distance is optimal as it allows the pen (or pencil) 11 to be positioned while keeping it substantially aligned with the cover 1 of the diary'.

[0030] Preferably, the permanent magnets incorporated in the barrel are four and are arranged with alternating polarity along the perimeter of the circular section of the barrel in correspondence with the vertices of a square inscribed in the circular section of the barrel. A particularity of this embodiment consists in the fact that, when the pen (or pencil) 11 is brought incorrectly close to the facing portions 3a, 3b of the cover 1 , the user feels that the pen 11 rotates by itself between his / her fingers due to the repulsion force between the permanent magnets in the cover 10a, 10b and the permanent magnets of the pen 11, and automatically arranges itself in the right position to remain attached to the cover 1 in the optimal configuration to keep the diary closed. This effect is also partly achieved in the embodiment that contemplates only two magnets incorporated in the barrel. However, with only two magnets it could happen that the pen 11 becomes attached to the permanent magnets 10a, 10b fixed to the cover 1 in a position rotated by 180 degrees with respect to the desired one. In this case, the pen 11 would still continue to perform its function as a mechanical bridge that holds together the two facing portions 3a, 3b, of the cover 1, but the force of attraction would be less than that obtainable in the desired position. Furthermore, the pen 11 would be completely covered by the facing portions 3a, 3b, of the cover, which is a less comfortable configuration for the users.

[0031] .According to one aspect, the cover 1 comprises an inner layer of cardboard covered by an outer lining and its permanent magnets 10a, 10b, are fixed on the inner layer of cardboard of the cover 1 and are hidden from view by the outer lining, which covers both the inner layer of cardboard and the permanent magnets 10a, 10b. This embodiment is also advantageous from an aesthetic point of view, as a. user does not notice any difference between the cover 1 thus made to incorporate the permanent magnets 10a, 10b, and a pen 11 that incorporates the magnets inside its barrel hidden from view.

[0032] According to one aspect, the permanent magnets 10a, 10b, incorporated in the cover 1 and associated with the pen or pencil 11 are of the neodymium type and can develop significant attractive forces even if they are relatively small in size, so they can be easily integrated into the cover 1 and the pen 1 without substantially weighing them down and with reduced manufacturing costs.

[0033] The diary may be dated or undated and its pages may be bound with cover 1, as shown in the figures, or associated with cover 1 by means of opening rings (solution not shown in the figure). According to one aspect, cover 1 of the diary defines in a known way two pockets (not shown in the drawings) on the internal sides of cover 1 so that pages 2, bound together with their auxiliary cover, can be removably associated with cover 1 by inserting their auxiliary cover into the internal pockets of the diary cover. With this solution, cover 1 of the diary with magnets 10a, 10b, and pen 11 can be reused year after year by replacing pages 2 of the diary.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A flap-less dated or undated diary, of the type not including a closing flap, comprising: a cover (1), a plurality of pages (2) of the diary bound to said cover (1), wherein said cover (1) is wider than said pages of the plurality of pages (2) and has facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b), configured to remain spaced apart one from the other when the diary is closed, that protrude from said plurality of pages (2), wherein said facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b) are arranged along a longitudinal direction from opposite sides with respect to a central area of the cover (1), wherein said central area constitutes a spine (9) of the diary when closed and wherein said spine (9) is oriented along a transverse direction with respect to said longitudinal direction, characterized in that each peripheral portion of said facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b) has a respective first permanent magnet (10a, 10b), wherein the respective first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) of the two facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b) are facing each other and are oriented so as to attract each other; wherein said dated or undated diary further comprises a pen or pencil (11), wherein said pen or pencil (11) has a barrel incorporating two second permanent magnets, in correspondence of radially opposed portions of said pen or pencil, wherein the second permanent magnets incorporated in the barrel are arranged so that, when the pen or pencil (11) is placed in contact against said facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b) of the cover (1), each second permanent magnet of the second permanent magnets is facing a respective first permanent magnet of said first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) so as to be attracted by the respective first permanent magnet; wherein the first permanent magnets ( 10a, 10b) of said facing portions (3a, 3b) and the second permanent magnets of said pen or pencil are configured to cooperate to each other to keep said diary closed by means of said pen or pencil (11 ), wherein said pen or pencil (11) is placed between said first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) and mechanically connects the mutually spaced apart facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b) of the cover (1) retaining them and preventing their mutual separation when the pen orpencil (11) is in contact with said facing peripheral portions (3a, 3b).

2. The diary according to claim 1, wherein said pen or pencil (11) has a substantially cylindrical barrel with a circular section and the second permanent magnets incorporated in the barrel are at a mutual distance equal to or greater than one side of a square inscribed in said circular section.

3. The diary according to claim 2, wherein said pen or pencil (11) has four second permanent magnets incorporated in the barrel and arranged with alternating polarity along a perimeter of said circular section, wherein said second permanent magnets are arranged in correspondence with vertices of the square inscribed in the circular section of the barrel so as to induce a rotation of the pen or pencil (11) around its longitudinal axis when the second permanent magnets are brought near to the first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) with a same polarity.

4. The diary according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said plurality of pages (2) is bound together with said cover.

5. The diary according to one of the preceding claims, wherein: said cover (1) comprises an internal layer of cardboard covered by an external lining; said first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) are fixed on said internal layer of cardboard and are hidden from view by said external lining.

6. The diary' according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said second permanent magnets are arranged inside the barrel of the pen (11) so as to be hidden from view from the outside.

7. The diary according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said first permanent magnets (10a, 10b) and said second permanent magnets are of the neodymium type.

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