Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an organisational aid for assisting a person to remember to perform one or more necessary tasks.

Background of the Invention

It is known to provide an organisational aid in the form of a to do list, in paper or computerised form, for reminding a person, in particular a child, to carry out certain tasks. Such a to do list may comprise a chart with a list of tasks, such as items to be placed in a schoolbag, with a space provided adjacent each task so that the person may include a mark such as a tick to indicate that the task has been completed.

The present invention seeks to provide an alternative to such known organisational aids.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an organisational aid comprising: a body portion; and at least one member attachable to the body portion and provided with indicia indicative of tasks to be carried out by a person; the organizational aid being arranged so as to be attachable to an article.

In one embodiment, the organisational aid comprises at least one first member provided with first indicia and at least one second member provided with second indicia. The organisational aid may be arranged such that the at least one second member is always visible. A plurality of first members may be provided, each first member being associated with tasks required to be carried out on a particular day, and the or each second member being associated with tasks required to be carried out on more than one day.

In one embodiment, the body portion comprises a cavity and the first members are receivable in and removable from the cavity. The first members may be fixed to the body portion such that the first members are receivable in and removable from the cavity whilst remaining tethered to the body portion.

The organizational aid may comprise an attachment device configured so as to facilitate attachment of the organisational aid to a bag.

In one arrangement, the attachment device comprises a substantially ring shaped portion, wherein the organizational aid is attachable to an article by extending a portion of the article through the ring shaped portion.

In one embodiment, the cavity comprises a cavity opening and the body portion comprises an aperture extending through the body portion from an end of the cavity remote from the cavity opening, the attachment device comprising a lanyard and an attachment portion, the lanyard extending through the aperture and being connected at a first end to the first members and at a second opposite end to the attachment portion. The attachment portion may comprise a clip or a carabiner.

In one embodiment, the body portion comprises an opening and the body portion is arranged to receive the or each second member such that the or each second member is disposed behind the opening and the indicia disposed on the or each second member are viewable through the opening .

The body portion may comprise a flexible flap adjacent the opening, the or each second member being insertable through the cavity opening between the flap and the opening .

The body portion may be formed of silicone, rubber or plastics material.

The first and/or second members may be formed of polypropylene material .

The first and/or second members may comprise a plurality of tiles fixable to and removable from the first and second members. The tiles may be fixable to the first and second members by providing the tiles with adhesive or magnetic material. The tiles may be formed of electrostatic vinyl material.

In addition or alternatively, the body portion may be provided with at least one hole, and the first and/or second members may comprise a plurality of pegs having a head portion provided with the indicia and a projection engageable with a hole .

The indicia may comprise representations of tasks to be carried out, such as pictures or icons and/or words representing tasks to be carried out.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an organisational aid in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the organisational aid shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a body- portion of the organisational aid shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic upper plan view of the body portion shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic lower plan view of the body portion shown in Figure 3 ;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic first end view of the body portion shown in Figure 3 in the direction of arrow A;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic second end view of the body portion shown in Figure 3 in the direction of arrow B;

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic cross -sectional view of the body portion taken along the line VIII-VIII in Figure 5 in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic plan view of an indicia bearing first member of the organisational aid shown in Figures 1 and 2 ; and Figure 10 is a diagrammatic plan view of an indicia bearing second member of the organisational aid shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Description of an Embodiment of the Invention

Referring to the drawings, in Figures 1 and 2 there is shown an organisational aid 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The organisational aid 10 includes a body portion 12 configured so as to receive at least one indicia bearing member, the indicia provided on the or each member being of a type which serves to remind a person to carry out a task.

In this example, a plurality of indicia bearing first members 14 are provided, with each indicia bearing first member 14 being associated with a particular weekday, and the indicia 18 provided on each first member 14 relating to tasks required to be carried out for the relevant day. Each first member 14 includes an identifier 19, in this example in the form of text, which indicates to a user the relevant day associated with the required tasks.

In this example, the first members 14 are in the form of generally square shaped cards formed of polypropylene material, although it will be understood that any suitable indicia bearing medium is envisaged.

Similarly, the second indicia bearing member 16 also includes indicia 20 which indicate tasks to be carried out by a user associated with the organisational aid 10.

However, the tasks represented by the indicia 20 provided on the second member 16 are of the type required to be carried out regularly such as every day or every weekday, while each set of tasks represented by the indicia 18 provided on each first member 14 is specific to the relevant day associated with the first member 14.

The organisational aid 10 also includes an attachment device 21, in this example in the form of a lanyard having a cord portion 23 and an attachment portion 25. The attachment device 21 serves to enable the organisational aid 10 to be attached to an item such as a bag. The attachment portion may be any suitable device capable of fixing to part of an item such as a bag, for example a carabiner, a clip or clasp device.

In an alternative variation, the attachment device may be in the form of a slot through which a strap of a bag may ^¬ be received in order to attach the organizational aid to the bag. Alternatively, the attachment device may be realized by providing an end of the lanyard with an adjustable size loop through which the body portion may be passed in order to secure the organizational aid to a bag strap.

In one implementation, the organisational aid 10 is attached during use to a child's schoolbag, with tasks to be carried out every day represented on the second member 16, and tasks which vary depending on the particular school day represented on the first members 14. Since the tasks represented on the second member 16 do not change, the organisational aid 10 is configured so as to retain the second member 16 relative to the body portion 12 such that the indicia 20 on the second member 16 are always visible, and the organisational aid is configured so as to receive the first members 14 and facilitate removal of the first members 14 from the body portion so that the indicia 18 on the first members 14 may be viewed, whilst retaining the first members 14 tethered relative to the body portion 12.

In this way, a child is provided with a reminder as to the tasks required to be carried out every day and the tasks which are required to be carried out for particular school days .

For example, tasks to be carried out every day may be to pack a hat, lunch and drink bottle in the bag, and tasks which vary depending on the particular day may be to pack sports clothes and/or sports equipment, pack particular books , and so on .

In order to facilitate ease of understanding of the necessary tasks, the indicia 18, 20 provided on the first and second members 14, 16 may take the form of pictures or icons and/or words, for example representations of a hat, a water bottle, an item of sports equipment, and so on.

The indicia 18, 20 may be provided on separate tiles which are fixable to and removable from the first members 14. For example, the tiles may be formed of electrostatic vinyl material with adhesive or magnetic material applied to one side.

The second member 16 may be coloured and may have an associated transparent cover member which serves to protect the indicia 20 disposed on the second member 16 when the second member 16 is disposed behind the window 28.

While the present embodiment is described in relation to an organizational aid including a body portion and at least one indicia bearing member receivable in a cavity defined in the body portion, it will be understood that other variations are possible. For example, the organizational aid may include a body portion and a plurality of indicia bearing members, the body portion and indicia bearing members being provided with complimentary engagement devices which serve to retain an indicia bearing member relative to the body portion. In one arrangement, the engagement device may take the form of at least one hole on the body portion and a projection on the indicia bearing member. In this example, each indicia bearing member may take the form of a peg provided with indicia on a head of the peg.

A further variation of an organizational aid may comprise a body portion provided with multiple sides, such as a cube, and indicia bearing members arranged so that each indicia bearing member is fixable to a side of the cube, for example using adhesive or using magnetics. In addition to providing the organizational aid 10 with indicia indicative of tasks to be carried out by a person, the organizational aid may also include indicia indicative of other non-task related information, such as address or medical information relating to the person associated with the organizational aid 10, or any other information associated with the person associated with the organizational aid 10.

The body portion 12 is shown more particularly in Figures 3 to 8. The body portion 12 comprises a cavity 22 of sufficient size to receive the first members 14 through a cavity opening 24. The body portion 12 may also include information associated with producers of the organisational tag 10, for example a manufacturer logo 26.

As shown more particularly in Figure 5, the body portion 12 also includes an opening 28 through which, in the absence of a second member 16, a flap 30 can be seen. The opening 28 is bounded by a peripheral lip 32 and a gap 34 is defined between the flap 30 and a portion of the lip 32 adjacent the cavity opening 24. The arrangement is such that the flap 30 is sufficiently flexible so as to allow the second member 16 to be inserted between the flap 30 and the peripheral lip 32 through the cavity opening 24. After insertion of the second member 16 in this way, the second member 16 is retained relative to the body portion 12 between the flap 30 and the peripheral lip 32.

In an alternative arrangement wherein the body portion is formed of sufficiently flexible material, such as silicone, it is not necessary to provide a flexible flap in order to enable the second member 16 to be positioned behind the opening 28. With this arrangement, the flexibility of the body portion material enables the second member 16 to be positioned behind the peripheral lip by flexing the peripheral lip and inserting the second member 16 through the opening 28.

As shown more particularly in Figures 6 and 7, the body portion 12 is also provided with an aperture 36 which extends through the body portion 12 from an end of the cavity 22 remote from the cavity opening 24. As shown in Figure 2, during use the cord portion 23 of the attachment device 21 is threaded through apertures 40 provided in the first members 14 and the cord portion 23 extends through the aperture 36 between the first members 14 and the attachment portion 25. In this way, the first members 14 are readily removable from and insertable into the body portion 12 whilst keeping the first members 14 tethered to the body portion 12.

It will be understood that the tethering arrangement shown in Figure 2 also ensures that when the organisational aid 10 is attached to an item such as a bag using the attachment portion 25, gravity ensures that the first members 14 are disposed inside the body portion 12 and thereby protected from damage by the body portion 12.

The body portion may be formed of any suitable material such as silicone, rubber or plastics material.

In the above described embodiment, the organizational aid is of a type configured for use by a child with a school bag. However, it will be appreciated that the organizational aid 10 may be configured for use with other types of bag, such as a sports bag, a travel bag or a nappy bag, in particular by providing indicia particular to the users of such bags. For example, the indicia provided with an organizational tag 10 configured for use with a nappy bag may relate to baby related items which a user of the nappy bag may require . In addition, it will be appreciated that organizational aid 10 may be of any desired shape and may be stylized, for example such that that shape of the organizational aid resembles a character, an animal, insect, rocket, car, a sporting item such as a football, sport team logo and so on.

Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.