Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Plural strip – slat – or panel type – With mounting or supporting means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-10
2003-11-18
Lev, Bruce A. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Plural strip, slat, or panel type
With mounting or supporting means
C160S135000, C160S231100, C402S073000, C402S08000L
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648051
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to dry erase surfaces that allow writing to be easily removed. More specifically, the present invention relates to foldable dry erase surfaces that can be collapsed or expanded.
BACKGROUND
A dry erase board is a convenient tool that allows a user to write on the board with a marker and then erase the board with a dry eraser. The dry erase board is considered an improvement over a chalkboard because it produces no chalk dust and is generally easier to write on. The dry erase board comes in various forms, such as a board that may be mounted on a fixed wall, a board that is supported by an easel, or dry erase wallpaper adhered to a fixed wall.
It is convenient to have a dry erase board mounted to a fixed wall or have dry erase wallpaper on a fixed wall so that the dry erase board is always available in a given room. However, foldable walls are often employed to create flexible room configurations, and a fixed wall may be unavailable for the room configurations as a result. For example, it is possible to create temporary rectangular rooms using four foldable walls. In such a case, it may continue to be desirable to have convenient access to a dry erase board, but no fixed walls exist to support it.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a foldable dry erase board, such as a foldable dry erase board that serves as a temporary wall for a particular room configuration.
SUMMARY
Embodiments of the present invention provide a foldable dry erase surface. The foldable surface has several panels that are contiguously connected together through hinged connections that allow the panels to pivot and thereby fold together to collapse the surface. The hinged connection may be integral to the panels or may be a distinct hinge that is attached between them. A dry erase film is applied to one or more panels to form the foldable dry erase surface.
The dry erase surface may be hung from a ceiling surface to form a wall. For example, the dry erase surface may have hangers attached to the panels with the hangers movably engaging a ceiling mounted track. The dry erase surface may then be expanded and collapsed as necessary to provide or remove a temporary wall. Users can write on the dry erase wall with dry erase markers and can erase the writing with dry erasers.
The various aspects of the present invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and by reference to the drawings and claims.
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My Whiteboards.com; An OptiMA, Inc. Company, Westborough, MA “Poly Rite Dry Erase Wallpapaer”; www.mywhiteboards.com.
Welcome to Boardbase, Inc.; Boardbase, Inc.—Zephyr Cover, Neveda; www.boardhouse.com.
BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
Lev Bruce A.
Merchant & Gould
LandOfFree
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