Printed matter – Calendar
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-14
2001-02-13
Fridie, Jr., Willmon (Department: 3722)
Printed matter
Calendar
C040S107000, C283S067000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186553
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to theme calendars.
An “Advent Calendar” is a familiar type of theme calendar. In general parlance, “advent” refers to a coming or arrival, especially of something awaited or momentous. “Advent” in its proper form is defined as the penitential period beginning four Sundays before Christmas. Advent calendars were originated in the 1920s by a German businessman, Gerhard Lang, as a means for marking the passage of days while counting down to Christmas.
FIG. 1
illustrates a typical implementation of a Christmas Advent calendar
10
. A substantially flat (two-dimensional or 2D) member
11
has twenty-five individual cells
13
, one for each of the days from December 1st to December 25 (i.e., Christmas Day) along with a Christmas-related motif or theme
12
(e.g., Santa Claus) imprinted thereon. Each of the cells
13
has a closure (e.g., door or flap)
14
which is to be opened when the day corresponding to the cell under consideration arrives. Underneath each flap
14
is a textual message, religious saying or an image that relates to the Christmas theme. Starting on December 1st, an owner of a Christmas Advent calendar
10
opens one flap
14
each day, reads the message for that day, and then continues in this manner, counting down one day at a time until Christmas day arrives.
Various different physical configurations can be used for Christmas advent calendars. For example, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a three-dimensional (3D) Christmas advent calendar
20
can be constructed in which each date cell has a depth, D, sufficient to hold a 3D object
22
such as a charm, toy, ornament, piece of candy or another token representative of the Christmas theme.
SUMMARY
Various implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following features.
A customizable theme calendar may include a set of date cells corresponding to an arbitrarily designated time period (e.g., a starting date and a target date). The starting date or the target date or both can be selected by an end-user of the calendar. A theme applied to the calendar corresponds to an event associated with the arbitrarily designated time period. The theme and/or event associated with the target date may designated by an end-user of the calendar. The time periods, events and/or themes may correspond to recognized holidays such Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter and so on, or to arbitrarily designated time periods corresponding to events having personal or familial significance, such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, etc. Alternatively, the time periods, events and/or themes may correspond to physical phenomenon such as celestial events or to other occurrences such as sporting events.
Customization can be achieved by applying a theme or other indicia to the calendar. The theme or other indicia applied to the calendar can include one or more design elements (e.g., shape or physical configuration of the calendar, images or other graphic elements, colors, shapes, textures, sounds, music, text and scents) that are suggestive of the event associated with the arbitrarily designated time period. The customization can include the selection and application of a general theme (e.g., holiday, event, etc.) and/or the “personalization” of the calendar by associating it with a particular person, family, group, team, place, thing, etc.
Producing a customized theme calendar can be accomplished by selecting arbitrary target and/or starting dates, specifying a theme, and generating a calendar bearing indicia suggestive of the specified theme and having a set of date cells that successively count down, or otherwise correspond, to the selected arbitrary target date. The selection of the arbitrary date(s) and/or specifying the theme, can be performed manually by an end-user of the customized theme calendar.
Generating the theme calendar can be performed by a computer system. Optionally, if the end-user performs only one of the date selection and theme specification functions, the computer system can perform the other of the two functions.
As noted, customized calendars may be designed and generated either manually using conventional graphic arts techniques or in connection with a computer system and customizable theme calendar generation software. In either case, the date range for the calendar can be designated automatically based on the theme selected by the end-user of the calendar.
A computer software implemented process of generating a customized theme calendar can be accomplished by customizing a calendar based on at least one of a customer-designated time period and a customer-designated theme. The customization and/or personalization of the calendar can involve the extraction of theme data from a theme database stored in the computer. The calendar can then be customized based on the extracted theme data. An information package descriptive of the customized calendar can be generated and transmitted to a printing facility.
The invention may provide one or more of the following advantages.
The customizable theme calendar as described here not only can provide a mechanism for tracking the arrival of an anticipated event, it adds to the festivity of the occasion and provides a special message or treat each day during the period covered by the calendar. The calendar can be tailored to any desired theme, occasion or event—both recognized holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, and arbitrary dates such as birthdays, anniversaries and other events of personal or familial significance.
These systems and techniques for designing and generating theme calendars provide designers with considerable flexibility. A designer can select any or all of the available design features (date range, images or other graphic elements, colors, content, size, shape, configuration, etc.) or can allow a computer system to make design decisions. As a result, a wide range of customized calendar designs for counting down to, or otherwise celebrating, an awaited event is made available.
Other advantages will become apparent from the following description including the drawings and the claims.
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Gardner Karen
Phillips Betty J.
Phillips Jacob L.
Phillips John C.
Phillips Richard L.
Fridie Jr. Willmon
Phillips John C.
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